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insisted that by that Word was meant the Boundary or Limits of
the Province, or at least the most distant Part of it that had been
settled before the War broke out, others alledged that by the Word
Frontier was intended or pointed out, that Part of the Country where
the Westernmost Plantations, which were then occupied, lay, and
gave it as their Opinion, that if any of the Troops were posted at,
or marched to, any Place beyond Fort Frederick, and not out of
the Province, the Agents ought not to pay or victual them.
As I was extremely anxious to avoid and remove every Thing that
might possibly cause Misunderstandings, and become Occasion of
Dispute afterwards between the Assembly and Myself, between the
Officer that should be appointed to Command the Troops and the
Agents, between the Agents and Myself, and in short between any
Persons whatever that might be concerned with the said Troops, I
intimated to one of the Agents, (who being a Member of the Lower
House was then in Town) my Desire to speak with him, and upon
his complying with my Request, I asked him, Whether he should
think himself impowered by the Bill, which had then passed both
Houses, to victual and pay any of the 590 Men that should be posted
at Fort Cumberland, and whether he thought that Part of the Bill,
which I was informed had been the Subject of Conversation and
Dispute, was sufficiently clear and explicit ? The Gentleman's Answer
was to this Effect, That some Members of the House were of Opin-
ion, that the Agents would be at Liberty to pay such Troops, while
others said that the Bill vested them with no such Power; but that
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L. H. J.
Liber No. 52
April 23
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when the Bill was Enacted into a Law, he should be for taking
Advice thereon. When I perceived that the Gentleman avoided giving
a direct Answer to the Question I had asked him, I thought the only
Way left for me to have the Matter cleared up, so that both the
Agents and Myself might know the Sense of the House, was to send
them a Message, which, with the Approbation of that Gentleman, I
accordingly did in the following Words :
"Gentlemen, As I observe that the Word Frontier frequently
occurs in the Bill, entituled, An Act for his Majesty's Service, and
the more immediate Defence and Protection of the Frontier In-
habitants of this Province, which has been Framed by you this
Session, and having received the Concurrence of the Upper House,
now lies for my Assent; and as it has been a Question, what Part
of the Province is to be understood by that Word, I must desire
you to give me your Sense of the Word, and particularly what
Part of Maryland you designed by it in the following Clause of
the abovementioned Bill; And be it further Enacted, that the said
Five Hundred Men, or so many of them as shall be at any Time
in the Pay of this Province, except such Number as may be necessary
to be left at Fort Frederick, shall be employed in Ranging about
the Frontier thereof, for the Quiet and Protection of the Inhabitants.
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p. 70
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