172 Assembly Proceedings, April 4-17, 1759.

L. H. J.
Liber No. 51
April 9

The Gentleman took his Seat in the House.
The Governor communicated to Mr. Speaker, the following
Message, viz.^t
Gentlemen of the Lower House of Assembly,
I herewith send you Copies of several Letters which I have re-
ceived, since the Opening of the Session, from the Right Honourable
Mr. Secretary Pitt, his Excellency General Amherst, and Brigadier
Stanwix; By one of which you will be informed that his Majesty,
immediately upon receiving an Account of the Success of his Arms
on the River Ohio, was pleased to Direct the Commander in Chiet
of all his Forces in North-America, and the Officer commanding
his Troops in this Part of it, to lose no Time in concerting the most
proper and speedy Means for compleatly restoring the ruined Fort
Duquesne to a defensible and respectable State, or for Erecting
another in the room of it of sufficient Strength, and every Way
adequate to the great Importance of the several Objects, of Main-
taining his Majesty's Subjects in the undisputed Possession of the
Ohio; of effectually cutting off all Trade and Communication this

p. 128

Way between Canada and the Western and Southern Indians; of
Protecting these Colonies from the Incursions to which they have
been exposed since the French built the abovementioned Fort, and
thereby made themselves Masters of the Navigation of the Ohio;
and of fixing again the several Indian Nationals in their Alliance
with, and Dependance upon, his Majesty's Government; Such being
the Instructions that the King, out of his tender and paternal Care
for the Safety and Welfare of these Colonies, hath been pleased
to send the Officer that is appointed to the Commannd of his
Forces in this Part of the Continent, he hath the greatest Reason
to expect, that, as his Subjects, the Inhabitants of Maryland, and
the Two neighbouring Provinces, are particularly and nearly in-
terested in the speedy Execution of this great and salutary Work,
they will be particularly alert and ready to give such Officer all the
Assistance in their Power; and it will, as the Secretary of State
observes, be Matter of no small Surprize, and must reflect the greatest
Blame on your Conduct, should you, in any Point, fail to assist to
the utmost the King's Officers who shall be employed on this Occa-
sion. That this, however, will not be the Case, I entertain the most
sanguine Hopes; for I cannot think you would wish to lose the
Fruits of the late successful Expedition to the Westward, to see the
French again in Possession of the Ohio Country, and our Frontier
Inhabitants exposed to the dreadful Incursions of their Indian
Allies. If you have any Regard for your own Safety, or the Safety
and Welfare of your Posterity; if you have any Regard for the
Reputation of the Province, or can be animated by the laudable
Example of all your Fellow Subjects in the neighbouring Colonies;
or if you have the least Sense of Gratitude to the best of Kings, and