xvi Letter of Transmittal.

No legislation of the least importance in actively prosecuting the war was
enacted, and Sharpe in disgust on March 26th, prorogued the Assembly until
July ist following, although it was destined to be called together a week earlier.

When the Assembly met on June 23, 1755, in its third session, General
Braddock, as commander-in-chief, had very recently arrived in Virginia and
had just begun his march to the frontier. The Lower House was composed of
the same determined group as was the last, although at this session the Pro-
prietary party lost a valuable member in Lloyd Buchanan of Baltimore County,
who was expelled from the House because he had accepted the position of
Public Prosecutor of Baltimore County. Sharpe in his opening address referred
to a letter recently received from Braddock saying that as soon as he had
reduced the fort (Duquesne), which the French had presumed to erect lately
on the Ohio, he proposed to garrison it with the Provincial troops of Maryland
and Virginia and to have it victualed by the Maryland, Virginia, and Penn-
sylvania governments.

To show its gratitude to the King for sending such a body of regular troops
as that under Braddock, the Governor urged the Lower House to make an im-
mediate grant of supplies for His Majesty's service and " to avoid the Rock on
which the Difficulty of raising large Sums may make you Split." The Lower
House expressed its wish to make an immediate allowance and inquired what
quota of the expenses had been assigned to Maryland at Sharpe's conference
with Braddock " at the late Congress," held in Alexandria. The Governor re-
plied that no definite quota had been agreed upon there, but that Virginia had
voted £6,000 and that he hoped Maryland would contribute f 4,000. The Lower
House then resolved that Maryland should raise £5,000 for this purpose, and
at the same time decided to steer straight for the rock that Sharpe had urged
it to avoid, by voting 36 to 4 that " one of the ways and means " to raise this
should be from the fees derived from licences on ordinaries, and directed the
Committee on Laws to inquire as to additional sources by which the money
might be obtained. This Committee reported on June 26th, advising that it be
raised by licences on ordinaries and on pedlars, by taxes on wheel carriages and
billiard tables, and by import duties on servants, negroes and wines, and was di-
rected by the Lower House to prepare such a bill. On June 28th the bill was
reported to the Lower House, passed, and sent to the Upper House, where it
was promptly rejected, not only on account of the inclusion of the disputed li-
cences on ordinaries, but because it was felt that the receipts to be expected from
the other sources would be insufficient. The Lower House then amended the
bill by adding additional duties on sugar and molasses, but refused to elimi-
nate the licences from ordinaries. On July 5th the Upper House finally re-
jected the bill. The Lower House then passed an order directing that the