TO EDWARD AND JANE MECOM.

Philadelphia, 30 December, 1756.

DEAR BROTHER AND SISTER,

You will receive this by the hand of your son Benjamin, on whose safe return from the West Indies I sincerely congratulate you.

He has settled accounts with me, and paid the balance honorably. He has also cleared the old printing-house to himself, and sent it to Boston, where he purposes to set up his business, together with bookselling, which, considering his industry and frugality, I make no doubt will answer. He has good

the same Indian names to it, and thereby take lands from the Indians which they never sold; this is fraud. Also when one king has land beyond the river, and another king has land on this side, both bounded by rivers, mountains, and springs, which cannot be moved, and the Proprietaries, greedy to purchase lands, buy of one king what belongs to another; this is likewise fraud."

"All the land extending from Tohiccon Creek, over the great mountain to Wyoming, has been taken from me by fraud; for, when I had agreed to sell the land to the old Proprietary by the course of the river, the young Proprietaries came, and got it run by a straight course by the compass, and by that means took in double the quantity intended to be sold."

Though these charges were not allowed to be correct, yet the commissioners thought it advisable to put an end to the complaints of the Indians by satisfying their claims, and they offered to Teedyuscung a suitable compensation. He declined accepting it, on the ground that other tribes besides his own were concerned, and must be consulted, and concluded by saying, that in the spring he would bring them together for another treaty.

The manuscript minutes of this singular conference have been preserved in the archives of the American Philosophical Society. The commissioners, who attended the conference on the part of the Assembly, were not satisfied with the manner in which the minutes were reported to that body by the governor, and they signed jointly an explanatory paper, which was probably drawn up by Franklin, and which is printed in the "Votes and Proceedings of the Assembly," under the date of January 29th, 1757.

credit and some money in England, and I have helped him by lending him a little more; so that he may expect a cargo of books, and a quantity of new letter, in the spring; and I shall from time to time furnish him with paper. We all join in love to you and yours. I am your loving brother,

Sends Papers relating to Pennsylvania.· - Bills of the Assembly rejected by the Governor.

SIR,

Philadelphia, 1 February, 1757.

By this ship you will receive a box containing sundry copies of our last years' Votes, to which are added, as you advised, the accounts of the expenditure of the fifty-five thousand pounds, and the subsequent thirty thousand. Also the papers relating to the employing of foreign officers. There is likewise in the box an authenticated copy of our late bill for granting one hundred thousand to the King's use, and of the vote appointing yourself and Mr. Partridge agents, under the great seal, with all the late messages. You will see in the Votes a copy of the Proprietary Instructions, in which a money bill is made for us by the Proprietary, sitting in his closet at one thousand leagues' distance.

The governor laid before us an estimate of the necessary expense for defending the province one year, amounting to one hundred and five thousand pounds. We knew our inability to bear the raising

Many years agent in England for the Assembly of Pennsylvania.

of so great a sum in so short a time. We deducted the least necessary articles, and reduced it to one hundred thousand pounds, which we granted, and sent up the bill. Not that we thought this province capable of paying such a tax yearly, or any thing near it, but believing it necessary to exert ourselves at this time in an extraordinary manner, to save the country from total ruin by the enemy. The governor, to use his own polite word, REJECTS it. Your English kings, I think, are complaisant enough to say, they will advise upon it. We have no remedy here, but must obey the instruction, by which we are so confined, as to the time of rating the property to be taxed, the valuation of that property, and the sum per pound to be taxed on the valuation, that it is demonstrably impossible by such a law to raise one quarter of the money absolutely necessary to defend us. Three fourths of the troops must be disbanded, and so the country be exposed to the mercy of our enemies, rather than the least tittle of a Proprietary instruction should be deviated from!

I forbear to enlarge, because the House have unanimously desired your friend Mr. Norris, and myself, to go home immediately, to assist their agents in getting these matters settled. He has not yet determined; but, if he goes, you will by him be fully informed of every thing, and my going will not, in my opinion, be necessary. If he declines it, I may possibly soon have the pleasure of seeing you. I am with great respect, Sir, &c. B. FRANKLIN.

TO MRS. JANE MECOM.

DEAR SISTER,

Philadelphia, 21 February, 1757.

I am glad to hear your son has got well home. I like your conclusion not to take a house for him till summer, and, if he stays till his new letters arrive, perhaps it would not be amiss; for a good deal depends on the first appearance a man makes. As he will keep a bookseller's shop, with his printinghouse, I don't know but it might be worth his while to set up at Cambridge.

I enclose you some whisk seed; it is a kind of corn, good for creatures; it must be planted in hills, like Indian corn. The tops make the best thatch in the world; and of the same are made the whisks you use for velvet. Pray try if it will grow with you. I brought it from Virginia. Give some to Mr. Cooper, some to Mr. Bowdoin. Love to cousin Sal

ly, and her spouse. I wish them and you much joy. Love to brother, &c.

B. FRANKLIN.

TO WILLIAM PARSONS.

Mission to England.

DEAR FRIEND,

I thank you for the relating to the Indians.

Philadelphia, 22 February, 1757.

intelligence from Fort Allen, The commissioners have not yet settled your account, but I will press them to do it immediately. I have not heard from Mr. Stephenson, but will write to him once more.

And now, my dear old friend, I am to take leave

of you, being ordered home to England by the Assembly, to obtain some final settlement of the points, that have occasioned so many unhappy disputes. I assure you I go with the sincerest desire of procuring peace, and therein I know I shall have your prayers for my success. God bless you, and grant that at my return I may find you well and happy. I am, as ever, dear friend, yours affectionately,

B. FRANKLIN.*

TO MISS CATHERINE RAY.

DEAR KATY,

Philadelphia, 3 March, 1757.

Being about to leave America for some time, I could not go without taking leave of my dear friend. I received your favor of the 8th of November, and am ashamed, that I have suffered it to remain so long

* On the 29th of January, the Assembly resolved, that Isaac Norris, the Speaker of the House, and Benjamin Franklin, should be requested to go to England, "as commissioners to solicit the removal of grievances occasioned by proprietary instructions, &c." When they were called upon to declare to the Assembly, whether they would comply with the request, Mr. Norris declined, and gave as a reason the state of his health. Mr. Franklin said, "that he esteemed the nomination by the House to that service as a high honor, but that he thought, if the Speaker could be prevailed on to undertake it, his long experience in public affairs, and great knowledge and abilities, would render the addition of another unnecessary; that he held himself, however, in the disposition of the House, and was ready to go whenever they should think fit to require his service." It was then resolved, "that Benjamin Franklin be, and he is hereby appointed Agent of this province, to solicit and transact the affairs thereof in Great Britain." See Votes and Proceedings, February 3d. His son was at this time clerk of the House, and it was resolved, "That William Franklin have leave to resign his office of clerk of this House, that he may accompany his father, appointed one of the commissioners to negotiate our affairs in England, and that another person be chosen to serve as clerk during the absence of the said Franklin."— February 18th.