Mr. Speaker also reported that the Governour was pleased to make a speech to the Council and this House, of which Mr. Speaker said he had, to prevent mistake, obtained a copy; which he read to the House, and is as followeth, viz:

Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and

Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses:

I have called you together to give you an opportunity of taking the alarming state of the Colony into your consideration, and providing remedies against the evils which are increasing therein; and I am induced to it at this time particularly, as the declaration of the King and Parliament, contained in the joint Address of the Lords, and Commons, on the 7th of February last, and His Majesty’s Answer, no longer admit of a doubt that your well-founded grievances, properly represented, will meet with that attention and regard which are so justly due to them; so likewise the Resolution of the House of Commons, which followed on the 27th of the same month, will, I trust, have the effect of removing the jealousy which has been the principal source of disquiet and uneasiness in the minds of the people. Therefore I entertain the strongest hopes that nothing will remain, after a just consideration of the nature and tendency of that Resolution, to prevent your seriously exerting yourselves to bring the disputes, which have unhappily raged between the Mother Country and the Colonies, to a good end; to which the step already taken by the House of Commons must be considered as a benevolent, tender, and I hope, auspicious advance on the part of the Parent State.

It must now be manifest to all dispassionate people, that the Parliament, the high and supreme legislature of the Empire, far from having entertained thoughts so inconsisterif with the wisdom and publick virtue which have ever distinguished august body, of oppressing the people of the Colonies or of promoting the interest of one at the expense of another part of their fellow-subjects, have only been extending their care, that the whole, in consideration of the enjoyment of equal rights, privileges, and advantages, should be obliged, according to their abilities and situation, to contribute that proportion towards the burdens necessary for the support of their civil Government, and for the common defence, which the subjects of the same State cannot, with any justice, or consistent with their own welfare, refuse to grant; the principle of which having never, I believe, been denied by the people of His Majesty’s Dominion of Virginia, I hope you will think it reasonable now to acknowledge the propriety, and to engage to fulfil your part of the obligation it concludes.

Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses:

No specific sum is demanded of you for these purposes, that (as I think obviously appears) your justice and liberality may be left to their full scope, and that your gift, if you should be induced to offer any, may he, in the completest manner, free. The civil Government of this Country being already provided for, you will only have to declare what proportion, and by what means, you are willing to contribute towards the publick burdens of the State, burdens to which the Mother Country hath cheerfully submitted, to secure the Colonies from the encroachments of a dangerous and vigilant enemy. And I am warranted to say, that as it is never intended to require you to tax yourselves, without Parliament’s taxing the subjects of Great Britain on the same occasion in a far greater proportion, no prudence which you shall think necessary to observe for your security in that particular can be disapproved of.

And I, can likewise assure you, that if you should judge fit to adopt the principle and imitate the example of justice, equity, and moderation in your proposals, which actuated the House of Commons in their Resolution, declaring at once what was ultimately expected of you, such a compliance on your part will be considered by His Majesty not only a testimony of your reverence for Parliament, but also a mark of your duty and attachment to your Sovereign who has no object nearer his heart than the peace and prosperity of his subjects in every part of his Dominions.

I must recommend to you to fall upon means of paying the officers and private men employed in repelling the later invasion and incursions of the Indians, as I make no doubt you will think their services on that occasion deserving of your attention.

Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and

Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses:

You may be assured of my cheerful concurrence in all measures, and ready assent to all laws which it may be found expedient to adopt for the present peace, tranquillity, and advantage of the Country; and I hope you will think it necessary to these ends, that the courts of justice should forth with be opened, in order that the laws may again have their due course.

I cannot conclude without exhorting you, in the most earnest manner, to enter upon the subject-matter now recommended to you, with that patience, calmness, and impartiality, which its great importance requires, and to reflect upon the benefits this Country hath received from the support given to it by the Parent State, which I hope will animate your zeal, now you have it in your power, to restore that harmony and mutual confidence which rendered both Countries so flourishing, and, in short, to pursue your true interest, which will convert our present gloomy apprehensions into prospects of peace, happiness, and lasting security.

Ordered, That the said Speech do lie upon the table, to be perused by the Members of the House.

Ordered, That the said Speech be taken into consideration to-morrow.

Friday, Jane 2, 15 Goo. III, 1775.

A Message from the Governour, by Mr. Blair:

MR. SPEAKER: I am commanded by his Excellency the Governour to deliver to your House the joint Address of the Lords and Commons, on the 7th of February last, and His Majesty’s answer; and also the Resolution of the House of Commons, on the 27th of the same month, referred to in the Speech of his Excellency to the Council and this House.

And he presented the said Papers at the bar.

And the said Papers were read.

Ordered, That the said Papers do lie upon the table, to be perused by the Members, of the House.

The Order of the Day being read,

The Speech of his Excellency the Governour to the Council and this House was again read by Mr. Speaker.

Resolved, That an Address be presented to his Excellency the Governour, to assure his Lordship that we will immediately take into our most serious consideration the several important matters contained in his Excellency ’s Speech to the Council and this House, and proceed with that coolness and deliberation which ought ever to influence the counsels of a free and loyal people.

Ordered, That a Committee be appointed to draw up an Address to be presented to the Governour upon the said Resolution.

And a Committee was appointed of Mr. Treasurer, Mr. Mercer, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Henry Lee, Mr. Munford, Mr. Dandridge, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Jones, Mr. Cory, Mr. Francis Lightfoot Lee, Mr. Whitinge, and Mr. Charles Carter of Stafford.

Ordered, That the Governour’s Speech to the Council and this House, and the Papers therein referred, to, which were ordered to lie upon the table, be referred to the said Committee.

A Journal of the Proceedings of the Congress held at Philadelphia, on the 5th day of September, 1774, was laid before the House.

Ordered, That the said Journal do lie upon the table, to be perused by the Members of the House.

Resolved, That this House will, upon Monday next, resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole House to consider of the said Journal.

The Proceedings of the Convention of Delegates for the Counties and Corporations in the Colony of Virginia, held at Richmond Town, in the County of Henrico, on the 20th day of March, 1775, were laid before the House.

Ordered, That the said Proceedings do lie upon the table, to be perused by the Members of the House.

Resolved, That this House will, upon Monday next,