A REMONSTRANCE this day pre­sented to the President and Council, by the Hands of their Secretary.

THAT Lewis Nicola, is about to deprive us of our Liberty, by an order from you, of which the following is a copy, viz.

[Page 13]WE are advised, and from our own know­ledge, of our rights and privileges as Freemen are assured, that your issuing this order, is arbitrary, unjust, and illegal, and we therefore believe it is our duty, in clear and express terms, to remonstrate against it.

THE order appears to be arbitrary, as you have assum'd an authority, not founded on law or reason, to deprive us, who are peaceable men, and have never born arms of our Liberty, by a military force, when you might have directed a legal course of proceeding—unjust, as we have not attempted, nor are charged with any act, inconsistent with the character we have steadily maintained, of good citizens, solicitous to promote the real interest, and prosperity of our country, and that it is illegal, is evident, from the perusal and consideration of the con­stitution of the government, from which you derive all your authority and power.

WE, therefore, claim our undoubted right as Freemen, having a just sense of the inestima­ble value of religious and civil Liberty, to be heard before we are confin'd, in the manner directed by the said order; and we have the [Page 14] more urgent cause, for insisting on this our right, as several of our fellow-citizens have been some days, and now are confin'd by your order, and no opportunity is given them to be heard; and, we have been inform'd, that it is your purpose, to send them and us, into a distant part of the country, even beyond the limits of the jurisdiction you claim, and where the recourse, we are justly and lawfully intitled to, of being heard, and of clearing ourselves from any charge or suspicions, you may entertain, respecting us, will be impracticable.

WE fervently desire, You may be so wise, as to attend to the dictates of truth and justice, in your own minds, and observe the precepts of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom you profess to believe in; All things whatsoever ye would, that men should do to you, Do ye even so unto them, Matthew vii. 12. and then, We have no doubt, You will comply with this just claim we make, which will be duly acknowledged, by your real friends and well-wishers,

To the President and Council of Pennsylvania. The Remonstrance of the subscribers, Freemen, and Inhabitants of the City of Philadelphia, now confined in the Mason's Lodge.

THAT the subscribers have been by virtue of a warrant signed in Council by George Bryan, Vice-President, arrested in our houses, [Page 18] and on our lawful occasions, and conducted to this place, where we have been kept in close confinement, under a strong military guard, two or more days—that altho' divers of us de­manded of the messengers who arrested us, and insisted on having copies of the said warrant, yet we were not able to procure the same, till this present time, but have remained here un­accused and unheard. We now take the earliest opportunity of laying our grievances before your body, from whom we apprehend they pro­ceed, and of claiming to ourselves the Liberties and Privileges to which we are entitled by the fundamental rules of justice, by our birthright and inheritance, the laws of the land; and by the express provision of the present Consti­tution, under which your board derive their power.

WE apprehend, that no man can lawfully be deprived of his Liberty, without a warrant from some persons having competent authority, specifying in offence against the laws of the land, supported by oath or affirmation of the accuser, and limiting the time of his imprison­ment until he is heard, or legally discharged, [Page 19] unless the party be found in the actual perpe­tration of a crime. Natural justice, equally with law, declares that the party accused should know what he is to answer to, and have an opportunity of shewing his innocence. — These principles are strongly enforced in the ninth and tenth sections of the Declaration of Rights, which form a fundamental and inviolable part of the Constitution, from which you drive your power, wherein it is declared,

IX. "THAT in all prosecutions for crimi­nal offences, a man hath a right to be heard by himself and his Council, to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be con­fronted with the witnesses, to call for evidence in his favour, and a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the country; without the unanimous consent of which jury, he cannot be found guilty—Nor can he be compelled to give evidence against himself; nor can any man be justly deprived of his liberty, except by the laws of the land, or the judgment of his peers."

X. "THAT the people have a right to [Page 20] hold themselves, their houses, papers, and possessions, free from search or seizure, and therefore warrants without oaths or affirmations first made, affording a sufficient foundation for them, and whereby any officer or messenger may be commanded or required to search sus­pected places, or to seize any person or persons, his or their property not particularly described, are contrary to that right and ought not to be granted."

How far these principles have been adhered to, in the course of this business, we shall go on to shew.

UPON the examination of the said warrant, we find it is, in all respects, inadequate to these descriptions, altogether unprecedented in this or any free country, both in its substance, and the latitude given to the messengers who were to execute it, and wholly subversive of the very Constitution you profess to support.—The only charge on which it is founded, is a recom­mendation of Congress to apprehend and secure all persons who in their general conduct and conversation have evidenced a disposition inimi­cal to the cause of America, and particularly [Page 21] naming some of us,—but not suggesting the least offence to have been committed by us.

IT authorises the messengers to search all papers belonging to us, upon a bare possibility, that something political may be found, but without the least ground for a suspicion of the kind.

IT requires papers, relative to the sufferings of the people called Quakers, to be seized, with­out limiting the search to any house, or number of houses; under colour of which, every house in this city, might be broke open.

TO the persons whom the Congress have thought proper to select, the Warrant adds a number of the inhabitants of the city, of whom some of us are part; without the least insinua­tion, that they are within the description given by the Congress, in their recommendation.

IT directs all these matters to be executed (tho' of the highest importance to the Liberties of the people) at the discretion of a set of men, who are under no qualification for the due exe­cution of the office, and are unaccustomed to [Page 22] the forms of executing civil process, from whence probably, have proceeded the excesses and irregularities committed by some of them, in divers instances, by refusing to give copies of the process to the parties arrested, by deny­ing to some of us, a reasonable time to consider of answers, and prepare for confinement.—In the absence of others, by breaking our desks and other private repositories—and by ransack­ing and carrying off domestic papers, printed books, and other matters not within the terms of the Warrant.

IT limits no time for the duration of our imprisonment, nor points at any hearing, which is an absolute requisite to make a legal Warrant; but confounds in one Warrant, the power to apprehend, and the authority to commit, with­out interposing a judicial officer between the parties and the messenger.

UPON the whole, we conceive this Warrant and the proceedings thereupon, to be far more dangerous in its tendency, and a more flagrant violation of every right which is dear to Free­men, than any that can be found in the records of the English constitution.

[Page 23]BUT when we consider the use to which this GENERAL WARRANT has been applied, and the Persons upon whom it has been execu­ted, (Who challenge the World to charge them with offence) it becomes of too great magni­tude to be considered as the cause of a Few.— It is the cause of every Inhabitant, and may, if permitted to pass into a Precedent, establish a System of Arbitrary Power unknown but in the Inquisition, or the despotic Courts of the East.

WHAT adds further to this alarming stretch of power is, that we are informed the Vice-President of the Council, has declared to one of the Magistrates of the City, who called on him to enquire into the Cause of our confinement, that we were to be sent to Virginia UNHEARD.

SCARCELY could we believe such a declara­tion could have been made by a person who fills the second place in the government, till we were this day confirmed in the melancholy truth by three of the subscribers, whom you absolutely refused to hear in person, or by Council.—We would remind you of the complaints urged by [Page 24] numbers of yourselves against the Parliament of Great-Britain, for condemning the town of Boston UNHEARD, and we call upon you to reconcile your present conduct with your then professions, or your repeated declarations in favour of general Liberty.—

In the name therefore of the whole body of the Freemen of Pennsylvania, whose Liberties are radically struck at in this arbitrary imprison­ment of us, their unoffending fellow-citizens: We DEMAND an audience; that so our inno­cence may appear, and persecution give place to justice.—But if, regardless of every sacred obligation by which men are bound to each other in society, and of that Constitution by which you profess to govern, which you have so loudly magnified for the free spirit it breathes, you are still determined to proceed; be the ap­peal to the righteous judge of all the earth for the integrity of our hearts, and the unparalelled tyranny of your measures.

N. B. The three last subscribers, were first attended by some of those, who executed the General Warrant; but after their Remonstrance to the President and Council, were arrested by Lewis Nicola, and conducted to the Lodge, by a Special Order to him.

TO THE CONGRESS. The Remonstrance of the Subscribers, Citizens of PHILADELPHIA.

THAT we are now confined by a military guard, having been arrested and depriv­ed of our Liberty, by order of the President and Council of Pennsylvania, in consequence of a Resolve made by you, on the 28th day of the last month, "Recommending to the Execu­tive Powers of the several states, to apprehend and secure all persons, who have in their general conduct, and conversation, evidenced a disposi­tion inimical to the cause of America," and par­ticularly naming us, the subscribers, "together with all such papers, in our possession, as may [Page 32] be of a political nature;" the copy of which resolve, we could not obtain 'till yesterday after­noon.

CONSCIOUS of our innocence, and that we have ministred no just occasion, to have our characters thus traduced, and injuriously treat­ed; we have remonstrated to the said President and Council, against their arbitrary, unjust, and illegal proceedings against us, and demanded our undoubted right of being heard by them: Knowing we can manifest the falsehood and injustice, of any injurious charge, or suspicions, they or you, may entertain concerning us; but we are denied the opportunity of such a hearing, and were last evening informed, by their order, that they have resolved to send us to Stanton, in the county of Augusta, in Virgi­nia, to be secured there—and we are now told, that place is appointed by you, for our confine­ment.

WE therefore, by our love to our country, whose true interest and prosperity we have steadily pursued, thro' the course of our con­duct and conversations, and in justice to our characters, as freemen and christians, with that [Page 33] freedom and resolution, which influences men, conscious of being void of just cause of offence, are bound to remonstrate against your arbitrary, unjust, and cruel treatment of us, our charac­ters, and families, and against the course of proceeding, you have chose and prescribed; by which the liberty, property, and character, of every Freeman in America, is, or may be en­dangered.—Most of you are not personally known to us, nor are we to you; and few of you have had the opportunity of conversing with any of us, or of knowing any thing more of our conduct and conversation, than what you have received from others, and thus we are subjected to the unjust suspicions, you have en­tertained from the uncertain reports of our ad­versaries, and are condemned unheard, to be deprived of our most endearing connections, and temporal enjoyments, when our personal care of them, is most immediately necessary.

WE are therefore engaged in the most solemn manner, to call upon, and intreat you, to recon­sider the course of your proceedings, respecting us; and either by yourselves, or the said Presi­dent and Council, to give us the opportunity of hearing, and answering to every matter [Page 34] suggested to, and entertained by you or them, against us—being assured we shall appear to be true friends to, and anxiously solicitous for the prosperity of America, on the principles of justice and liberty—and tho' we are clearly convin­ced, from the precepts of Christ, the doctrine of his Apostles, and the example of his follow­ers, in the primitive ages of Christianity, that all outward wars and fightings are unlawful, and therefore cannot join therein, for any cause whatever.—We cannot but remind you, that we are by the same principles restrained from pursuing any measures, inconsistent with the Apostolic advice, "To live peaceably with all men," under whatever powers it is our lot to live, which rule of conduct, we are determined to observe, whatever you, or any others may determine concerning us.

YOUR characters, in the conspicuous station you stand, and the regard due to the liberties, properties, and even the lives of those, who are, and may be affected, by the course of your proceedings, so loudly proclaim the justice of our DEMAND of a hearing, that if more time remained for it, we judge farther reasoning unnecessary, beseeching you to remember, that [Page 35] we are all to appear before the Tribunal of Divine Justice, there to render an account of our actions, and to receive a reward according as our works have been.—And we sincerely desire for you, as we do for ourselves, that we may all so direct our course, that we may at that Tribunal, receive the answer, "of well done," and enjoy the reward of Eternal Peace and Happiness.

Copy of a third Remonstrance, presented to the President and Council yesterday, by the hands of Samuel Rhoads and Dr. Hutchinson.
To the President and Council of Pennsylvania. The Remonstrance of the subscribers, Freemen, and Inhabitants of the City of Philadelphia, now confined in the Mason's Lodge.

THAT it is with pain, we find ourselves under the disagreeable necessity, of again remonstrating against your extraordinary mode [Page 39] of treating us; when our last Remonstrance was delivered to your President, he gave ex­pectation to our fellow-citizens who waited on him, that he would lay it before you, and return an answer—Notwithstanding which, we have as yet received no answer whatsoever to it, but instead thereof, a paper signed by your Secretary, was delivered to us by William Brad­ford, the contents of which we shall have oc­casion to remark on.

BUT we must not omit another letter receiv­ed thro' the same channel, by which we are confirm'd in the truth of what we had before heard, that on the very day you were addressed by three of us to be heard, and before we were furnished with a copy of the GENERAL WAR­RANT, you had resolved to banish us to Stan­ton, in the county of Augusta, in Virginia, a place where you claim no jurisdiction, and to which we are utter strangers; this resolution formed against a body of innocent Freemen, while demanding to be heard, is, we believe, the first instance of the kind to be found in the history of our country: and, besides the violent infringement of the laws and constitution which you have engaged to govern by, the [Page 40] hardship is heightened by the particular situa­tion of that country at this time; as it is pub­licly asserted, that the Indians have already commenced hostilities upon the frontiers of Vir­ginia, not very far distant from the place of our intended banishment, as tho' you could find no place of security without endangering our lives.

FROM the professions you have repeatedly made of your love of Liberty and Justice, and the manner in which we have demanded our undoubted rights, we had reason to expect to have heard from you on the subject of our last Remonstrance; but we find we were mistaken, and the complaints of injured Freemen still remain unanswered.

WHETHER you imagine we are of too little consequence to be regarded, or expect that con­finement will reduce us to a tame acquiescence with your arbitrary proceedings, we shall not determine; it will not divert our attention from the important object we have in view in behalf of ourselves, and our country.—Nor will subtle proposals fit only to captivate the unwary, decoy us from the sure ground on which we stand in [Page 41] to a measure as illegal, and unconstitutional as your GENERAL WARRANT, and our oppressive treatment under it.

THE proposition contain'd in your resolve of the 5th inst. to discharge us upon taking the Test "required by law," or the new Test fram­ed by yourselves now demand our notice.

AND first we would observe that if you had a right to make such a proposition, we think it very improper to be made to men in our situa­tion. You have first deprived us of our Liberty, on one pretence, which finding you are not able to justify, you wave, and require as a condition of our enlargement, that we should confess our­selves men of suspicious characters by doing what ought not to be expected from innocent men. This kind of procedure is not new in history; for tho' the great patriots of the revo­lution found better expedients for the security of their government, than what arises from oaths of abjuration, yet the annals, both of Old and New-England are stained with accounts of men, in circumstances similar to our own, dragged before magistrates, on the bare suspi­cion of crimes; of whom Tests, which they [Page 42] conscientiously scrupled to take, have been af­terwards demanded, as the condition of their en­largement.—But such examples we should hope, would not have found patrons among men professing to be reformers upon all the plans of civil and religious Liberty, adopted by the free nations of Europe.

IT is strange to us that men intrusted with Supreme Executive Powers should be so regard­less of the laws you have most solemnly engaged to execute, as to require us to do more than those very laws enjoin. By the Test Act every inhabitant may take the Test, and enjoy all the rights of Freemen, or decline it, and submit to a deprivation of some of them, of which are ex­pressed in that Act; but no power is given to any officer of justice whatsoever, to tender it to any person except in particular circumstances, and as the charge against us is not founded on a breach of that law, it is evident you exceeded your authority in putting it to us. But if after what is past, we could be surprized at any thing you do, we should have been astonished at the rapid progress of your usurpation in assuming Legislative Powers to yourselves, while the Assembly was sitting under the same roof. You [Page 43] have overturned the only security the Constitu­tion has given the people against absolute des­potism, by attempting to exercise the authority of framing a Resolve operating as a Law at the same time, the powers of executing it.

YOUR duty as one branch of the Constitution is confined to the executing the laws as you find them, and does not extend to the making new ones to salve your own irregular conduct. You have undertaken all this by proposing a new Test of your own enacting, unknown, to the Laws and Constitution of the Government which you are to execute, unsupported by any authority under which you act; and this an ex post facto Law made to criminate by a refusal, those who before were innocent. And if we were in your opinion, such dangerous persons, as you, under the sanction of the Congress, have endeavoured to represent us, and could not be secured without sending us to so remote and dangerous part of the country, beyond the limits of your jurisdiction, how will the public be secured by our taking either of the Tests you have proposed;—That men of bad principles will submit to any Tests to cover their dange­rous [Page 44] and wicked purposes is evident to all who have been conversant in public affairs.

THE great Lord Hallifax, who in the name of the People of England presented the Crown to King William and Queen Mary at the Revo­lution, has expressed himself on this subject, in the following nervous terms, "As there is no real security to any state by oaths, so no private person, much less statesman would ever order his affairs as relying on it; for no man would ever sleep with open doors, or unlock'd-up-trea­sure, or plate, should all the Town be sworn not to rob."

ANOTHER most extraordinary proceeding we find in your Secretary's letter, where he says that you asked and received the advice of Congress, upon our Remonstrance before you determined upon it. What! shall unaccused Citizens, de­manding their inherent rights be delayed, or refused a Hearing until Congress can be con­sulted? A Body, who have engaged not to in­terfere in the internal police of the Govern­ment. Perhaps you thought the authority of a recommendation from Congress would render your arbitrary designs effectual, and countenance [Page 45] you in the eyes of the people. We trust you will be mistaken, and that neither Congress nor the people will approve your measures.

HAVING thus remarked on your proposal, protesting our innocence, we again repeat our pressing demand, to be informed of the cause of our commitment, and to have a hearing in the face of our country, before whom we shall either stand acquitted, or condemned.

THAT your resolve of this day, was this afternoon delivered to us; which is the more unexpected, as last evening your Secretary informed us you had referred our business to Congress, to whom we were about further to apply.

In this resolve, contrary to the inherent rights of mankind, you condemn us to banish­ment unheard.

You determine matters concerning us, which we could have disapproved had our right to a hearing been granted.

The charge against us of refusing ‘to pro­mise to refrain from corresponding with the enemy,’ insinuates that we have already held such correspondence, which we utterly and solemnly deny.

[Page 50]The tests you proposed we were by no law bound to subscribe; and notwithstanding our refusing them, we are still justly and lawfully entitled to all the rights of citizenship, of which you are attempting to deprive us.

We have never been suffered to come before you to evince our innocence, and remove sus­picions which you have laboured to instil into the minds of others, and at the same time knew to be groundless, altho' Congress recommended it to you to give us a hearing, and your President this morning assured two of our friends we should have it.

In vindication of our characters, we who are of the people called Quakers, are free to declare, That

Altho' at the time many of our forefathers were convinced of the truth, which we their descendants now profess, great fluctuations and various changes and turnings happened in government, and they were greatly vilified and persecuted for a firm and steady adherence to their peaceable and inoffensive principles, yet they were preserved from any thing tending to [Page 51] promote insurrections, conspiracies, or the shed­ding of blood; and during the troubles which by permission of Divine Providence have lat­terly prevailed, we have steadily maintained our Religious Principles in these respects, and have not held any correspondence with the contend­ing parties, as is unjustly insinuated, but are withheld and restrained from being concerned in such matters, by that Divine Principle of Grace and Truth which we profess to be our guide and rule through life. This is of more force and obligation than all the Tests and De­clarations devised by men.

AND we who are of the Church of England, are free to declare to you and to the world, that we never have at any time, during the present controversy, either directly or indirectly "com­municated any intelligence whatever to the Commander of the British Forces, or any other person concerned in public affairs." And with the same cheerfulness we would have engaged not to hold any such correspondence in future, had not the requisition been coupled with igno­minious and illegal restrictions, subjectings to become prisoners within the walls of our own dwellings, and to surrender ourselves to the [Page 52] President and Council on demand. This the clear consciousness of our own innocence abso­lutely forbade us to accede to.

UPON the whole, your proceedings have been so arbitrary that words are wanting to express our sense of them. We do therefore, as the last office we expect you will now suffer us to per­form for the benefit of our country, in behalf of ourselves and those freemen of Pennsylvania who still have any regard for liberty, solemnly remonstrate and protest against your whole con­duct in this unreasonable excess of power exer­cised by you.

THAT the evil and destructive spirit of pride, ambition and arbitrary power, with which you have been actuated, may cease and be no more; and that peace on earth, and good will to men may happily take the place thereof in your and all men's minds, is the sincere desire of your oppres [...]ed and injured fellow-citizens.