1 24 Correspondence of Governor Sharpe.

[Sharpe to Wm. Sharpe.]

I^st of Ian^y [1758]
D^r B^r
In my Letter dated the 18th of Sept^r I told you that I was
then about to meet the Assembly of this Province once more
in hopes of getting from them farther Supplies for the Sup-
port of the 500 Men which had been raised here for His Maj-
esty's Service & the more immediate Defence & Protection of
our Frontier Inhabitants. On the 28^th of that Month the As-
sembly met but instead of proceeding on the Business that I
had recommended to them the Gentlemen of the Lower
House took it into their Heads to send for my Secretary in
order as they alledged afterwards to get Evidence against
their Clerk whom they pretended to suspect of a Breach of
Trust in delivering Papers out of the House without their
Knowledge but it is now evident that they only wanted to estab-
lish a Precedent that they might afterwards require M^r Ridout
to attend whenever their Curiosity should incline them to ask
questions about any Affairs that his Connection with me
should give him an opportunity of knowing. As it was at
first supposed that they wanted no more than to ask a trivial
question or two about an Election which had happened here a
few Days before & was then controverted, M^r Ridout made
no Difficulty of waiting on the House agreeable to the
Speaker's Desire having first advised with some Gentlⁿ of the
Council who were walking on the Parade where our Publick
Buildings are placed. What ensued you will learn from the
inclosed Address & Message which I thought proper to send
you lest any evil minded persons should make it their Busi-
ness to represent this Affair in a false Light. Our Lower
House of Assembly has indeed of late years claimed a
Right of calling before them any Person they thought
proper & their Commands have been generally obeyed tho
as generally exclaimed ag^st as oppressive, Magistates have
been haled before them to answer for Offences they were
never guilty of & to gratify the private Pique & Resent-
ment of any particular Member Gentlemen have at times
been put to a great Deal of Trouble & Expence. They
assumed all the Powers of a British House of Commons
& have for some years been exercising those Powers in such
a manner as tended to render all the inferiour Courts of Judi-
cature contemptible or subservient to their purposes; before
this time however they had not presumed to meddle with any
one of a Governor's Family nor did they pretend any Authority
over the Gentlⁿ of the Council so far as to call them before
the House till the present Session on occasion of the contro-
verted Election abovementioned. Whether the extraordinary