THe Attorney General on reading the Votes of the 19th of June last, finds that a Petition of the Justices of Albany, was (during his Absence then in the Country) presented to the General Assembly; whereby the said Justices have now a third Time, ( to wit, by this; and by their former Petition to the General Assembly in No­vember, 1727, and by another Petition to his Excellency the Governour, in or about October last.) cast several scandalous and vile Reflections upon him. In this their last Petition they insinuate, That he had prosecuted them without just Cause, and on no other Motive than to Squeese Money from them; and thus under colour, (as they term it.) of the Insufficiency of their County Goal; which, they intimate, they had made sufficient, upon their pay­ing of 45 l. Costs, in June, 1724. All which being Notoriously False and Scandalous; The Attorney General thought it necessary to make the same as Publick as they have made their vile Aspersions; and hereby to let every Body know, That this Prosecution was commenced by Order of the Supreme Court, in June Term, 1723. (founded on the Presentments, or Representations, of several Grand Juries.) not under Colour of, but for the real Insufficiency of their County Goal; and the Court having, for these Reasons, ordered the Prosecution; he submits it to the Judgment of every Unprejudic'd Person; Whether the Prosecution is without just Cause, or if he could have no other Motive, either to the commencing or carrying on this Prosecution, than that of Squeesing Money from the said Justices? Or, whether his demanding and receiving the just Fees and Rewards of his Labour, in so necessary a Prosecution as this, can justy or fairly be called Squeesing; especially when the said Justices well knew, that the 45 l. they had paid him in this case, was much less than his due; and that he received the same at the earnest Request and pressing Sollicitation of those who paid it; and on their repeated Promise and Assurance to make their Goal sufficient forth-with; which if they neglected or delayed to do; he, at the same time, assured them, that the Prosecution must, and certainly should go on; which they, in such case, agreed would be reasonable; And when he has never once taken to the utmost of what has been justly due to him for his Fees and Labour, in any one Prosecution whatsoever. So groundless and unjust, are these, and all such Reflections and Reproaches of him.

As to their Goal being made sufficient, upon their paying the said 45 l. Costs in June, 1724; the same is Notoriously False; for in or about August or September, 1726. the late Governor, and the chief Justice, being then at Albany; they, on viewing the said Goal, complained of the In­sufficiency of it, and at the same time ordered the Attorney General (then present) to go on with the Prosecution; and the Court often afterwards [Page 2] ordered him to proceed therein, and blamed him for delaying it so long; which he constantly informed the said Justices of; and frequently advised and warned them to prevent further Costs and Trouble, by making a sufficient Goal without delay; according to their Promise and Agreement; or otherwise he should be obliged to Proceed. But all these Warnings proving ineffectual, and they at last sending him word, That they tho't their Goal sufficient enough, and wou'd do no more to it, he then proceeded against them; And in December, 1727, received an Order from the then Governour in Council, to proceed in all Prosecutions by Information which had been order'd by the Supreme Court; the said Goal being then Insufficient; And so it was even in June last, being then Protested against by the Sheriff (at the last Court there) for the Insufficiency thereof (as the Attorney General is very credibly informed.) and that the Court thereupon ordered the Sheriff to get it made sufficient; and that the Costs and Charges thereof should be repaid him by the County. From whence 'tis very evident, that the said Justices own'd the Insufficiency of their Goal, even in June last; tho' they had the assurance to tell the Ge­neral Assembly the contrary.

And as to what they say of Nineteen of the Defendents being formerly Justices, but that they are not so at present; that four are Dead, and two never were Justices; They betray their own Ignorance as well as Malice in it; for the Nineteen being Justices at the Time of the Commencement of the Prosecution; and the Goal then being, by their Neglect, Insufficient; and remaining so still; (or at least till their last Court in June last.) surely sufficiently warrants the Proceedings against them? And if four Dead Ones happen'd to be named in the same Process, among the Living, could either the Dead or the Living be hurt by it? Or if two others of them had not qualified themselves to act, was it not their own faults only, to neglect it? And how should the Attorney General know who were qualified, and who were not? When he was order'd to Prosecute the Justices of Albany for the Insufficiency of their Goal, what should he have done more to find out who they were, than to get a List of their Names from the Secretary's Office, which he did, and which List of Names he was told there; and no doubt but it was True; That it was a true Copy of the List of Names given in there to be inserted in the Commission of the Peace for Albany; and that the same Names were put into the Commission accordingly.

They seem likewise to have insinuated, That no good Man will continue to be, or accept of being a Justice, if such Proceedings are not prevented, But every indifferent and impartial Person, will no doubt, be of a con­trary Opinion; for tho' such necessary Prosecutions, as this appears to be, may, indeed, deter bad Men from being Justices, ( to wit) those who Resolve either to neglect their known Duty, or willfully to act contrary to it, yet they can never deter good Men from being Justices ( viz.) those who are determin'd neither to neglect, nor willfully to act contrary to their Duty; And such only (the Attorney General is of Opinion) ought to be Justices; And that any willful Offender's being a Justice, or [Page 3] in any other exalted Station, is so far from Excusing him, that its an Ag­gravation of his Crime; But that no one who is not a willful Offender need be in the least apprehensive of any Prosecution from him; having never given the least Occasion for any such Suspicion; for he has not ever once yet, without the Court or Government's Directions; or the regular Complaints of the Parties injured, and taking the Examinations of the Witnesses to the particular [...] prosecuted any Person whatsoever.

Had he been of a Mercinary Temper, which is untruly and basely suggested, he might, in upwards of six years past, have brought Hun­dreds of Prosecutions, which he has not; for it can't be deny'd but he may, when he thinks fit, ex Officio, Prosecute any Offenders what­soever against the King's Peace, without the Request, Order or Direc­tion of any Body, tho' he never yet has done it.

And yet he never was, nor ever will be afraid to do his Duty in Prosecuting any willful Offenders of any Degree whatsoever; whether he has any Di­rections for it, or not.

On the Whole, Let every honest and unprejudiced Person judge who is in the Fault; ( viz.) Whether the Attorney General, for proceeding in so just and necessary a Prosecution, and after it became his indispensible Duty too, by such repeated Orders and Directions; and after so many kind Warnings sent by him to the Defendants, to prevent further Costs and Trouble? Or, Whether the said Justices are not very Blameable for such false Accusations of him; contrived for no other purpose than to Defame him, and to avoid, if they can, paying him for his Time & Labour so necessarily imploy'd in the Service of the Publick? And then, Whether they do not well deserve to be Prosecuted for such a Malicious Defa­mation of him, unless they acknowledge their Fault and ask his Pardon? And lastly, Whether he has been Decently, or Fairly Treated, in Pub­lishing, in his Absence, this Petition of the Defendants; and especially after what appears by the Votes of the 11 th and 16 th of November, 1727, which the Reader is desired to peruse and compare.