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518 Correspondence of Governor Sharpe
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Letter Bk. IV
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Houses to frame an Address had broke up, the Lower House
signified to me that they intended to transmit a seperate one
& desired me to authenticate it by giving Orders that the
Great Seal might be affixed thereto. As this was a Request of
a very uncommon nature, & the Step unprecedented I declined
complying with it as you will see by my Message of the 2d
Inst. Not knowing what Reply to make or in what manner
to enforce their Request the Leaders in the House waved the
Affair at that time intending however to have the Address
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p. 196
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signed afterwards by the Speaker in proper Form, & indeed
I did not know but they had put the finishing hand to it, till
after they were prorogued I was informed as I intimated to
you in my Letter of the 6th Inst that tho it had been ready
several Days they had either designedly or negligently post-
poned it till they were called to the Upper House. After the
prorogation they would I am told have persuaded Colo Hooper
to sign it as Speaker & by Order of the House but could not
prevail on him to do so, whereupon those Members who had
voted for it agreed the next Day that each of them should sub-
scribe their names, but as they had barely Members enough
in Town to make a House (most of the Moderate Men having
left them after the Assessment Bill had been voted) & several
of these were averse to such an Address the Leaders could
not I am told get more than about twenty Subscribers so that
unless they have since sent it to some of the absent Members
to be signed instead of being the Address of the Lower House
of Assembly or a Majority of them it is only the Address of a
few private persons in number far short of half the Members
of whom that House is composed. I understand that the
former part of the Address differs in a few Words only from
that which I & the Gentlemen of the Upper House have joined
in but it seems they have added to it the Clause which I now
inclose you, wherein you will observe they complain in general
Terms of Grievances owing as they would insinuate to their
being under a proprietary Governt but cautiously do they
avoid particularizing them, tho it should seem the principal ones
in their opinion are that the Gentlemen of the Upper House
have by rejecting the Assessment Bill opposed their Endeav-
ours to subvert the Constitution, & will not pass their Agent's
Bill which is manifestly calculated to vest the Lower House
with such power as must in the End render the other Branches
of the Legislature of no Consequence. As you are already
apprized of the many Objections that have been made to the
Assessment Bill I shall only observe that if it be agreeable to
His Ldp the Gentlemen of the Upper House are very willing
that what has passed between Them & the Lower House
thereupon should be submitted to our Superiours not doubting
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