176 Correspondence of Governor Sharpe,

Letter Bk. IV

or Taxes on the Inhabitants of the province He was then
granting to His Ldp's Ancestor but that such Inhabitants should
be exempt from the payment of all Taxes except what might
be imposed by themselves or their Constituents with the Con-
sent of the Lord Proprietary : thus much I thought it my Duty
to intimate to you that if you please you may take Advice
thereupon. As you are pleased to tell me in that part of Your
Letter which bears Date the 30^th of March that "other Corre-
spondents & Merchants in London had said the last Session
ot Assembly here had been a very warm one & that men there
as about me were mischievous," I cannot help expressing to
you my Wishes to be informed who such Correspondents &
mischievous Persons are that I may in some measure guard
against their Misrepresentations, how warm the Proceedings
were during that Session the Journals long since transmitted
will shew you for my own part I thought there was a good
deal of Business done & as much harmony as could well be
expected, there was indeed a Dispute or two between the two
Houses but it is I think rather too late in the Day for such
Accidents to give any Alarm or the least uneasiness to any
Concerned in the Administration of the Govern^t. Since the
Conclusion of that Session there has been no Disturbance in
the province but every thing remains quiet & the Business of
Government has been carried on with as little noise or Diffi-
culty as it ever was perhaps since the Settlement of the Pro-
vince while at the same time the Inhabitants of Pennsylvania
have expressed their Aversion to the Proprietors Govern^t in
the most flagrant Terms, Riots & Outrages have been there
committed & the Province been a Scene of Disorder & Dis-
content. With my last Letter I transmitted you a Pamphlet
which had been lately published there with a View of Divert-
ing the People from applying for a Change of Govern^t I now
send you an answer to that Pamphlet under the Title of a
Speech made by one of their Assembly Men with a Preface
said to be wrote by M^r Franklin who is the principal Person
concerned in raising the Resentment of the People against the
Proprietors & as he takes such Steps while his Son is a King's
Governor in the next Colony many Persons are induced to
think that he knows the Steps he is taking are not disagree-
able to the present Ministry. There have I perceive by the
Pennsylva^a Gazettes been some Murders committed by Indians
on the Frontiers of that province, but it is with satisfaction I
tell you that not the least Mischief has been done by them
during the whole Summer on our Frontier nor has an Indian that
I can learn been discovered within the Limits of this Province.
Tho I wrote some Weeks ago to the Reverend M^r Bacon con-
cerning D^r Wilsons Complaint against him I have not yet