82 Assembly Proceedings, July 7-29, 1740.

U. H. J.

it is very doubtful whether any considerable number of Men can be
raised in this Province without a Bill to that purpose
After this I told you A proper Fund for the defence " of ourselves
" and the Province must always be of so great Importance specially at
" this time that my duty to his Majesty and care of the Subjects under
" this Government would never suffer me to Omit any Opportunity of
" earnestly exhorting you to make a suitable Provision for that Pur-
" pose nor could you (I said) be unmindful of what I recommended
" to you at the last Session, in relation to a Magazine, and an Amend-
" ment of Our present Militia Law
" These Points I told you I judged absolutely necessary to lay be-
" fore you and press particularly at this Juncture, and that they were
" of such Consequence that I hoped you would give a Preference and
" dispatch to them in the first place, before any other Business you
" might think fit to proceed on, for, I was well assured, you would by
" such A Conduct rather than any other, approve yourselves dutiful
" Subjects to his most gracious Majesty, as well as true Friends and
" Guardians of the Safety, and Well Being of this Province
In Answer to this in your Address you told me " that the principle
of self preservation would at all times engage you to provide, as far
as lies in your Power, for the Defence of yourselves and the Province,
and that you would in that and all other Parts of yum Conduct, use

p. 91

your utmost Endeavours to approve yourselves dutiful Subjects to
his most gracious Majesty as well as true friends and Guardians of
the Safety and welbeing of this Province."
But from that time to this I have not heard any thing from Your
House relating to the Bill for the purchasing Arms and Ammunition
for the Defence of the Province, altho that Bill was agreed on by the
two Houses, the last Session of Assembly, to be passed previously to
all other Laws, excepting that for raising Levies for his Majestys
Service, when you told me in your Address of the 4^th of June " that
it gave you no small concern that after the most solemn Protestations
and Assurances you had given me to the Contrary, you should by
me be Suspected of an Intention to keep back the Bill for Arms and
Ammunition, or to deprive the Province of a necessary Fund for its
support, when you could with truth assure me, that there is not A
Member in your House against that Bill "
To this I may add in your own Words, that the frequent Renew-
ments of this Bill, which with general Approbation have been in use
for many years, give it as great a Sanction as any Agreement of
Conferees can to a new one, and that as you now observe of some
other Bills, that It having been in use many years, and often reen-
acted it cannot require much time for Consideration
You cannot but be sensible of the poor and defenceless Condition
of Our Magazine for Our Arms and Ammunition, This induced me
to tell you in my Message of the 13^th of May last, that the present