“Sir:—
“Agreeable to your Honour’s orders, I passed on through the Province of New Jersey, in order to take the Indians under my care into New York; but no sooner was I ready to move from Amboy with the Indians under my care, than I was greatly surpriz’d & embarrass’d with express orders from the Governor of New York sent to Amboy, strictly forbidding the bringing of these poor Indians into his Province, & charging all his ferrymen not to let them pass.”
[382] Letters to Governor Penn from General Gage, Governor Franklin of New Jersey, and Governor Colden of New York. See Votes of Assembly, V. 300-302. The plan was afterwards revived, at the height of the alarm caused by the march of the rioters on Philadelphia; and Penn wrote to Johnson, on the seventh of February, begging an asylum for the Indians. Johnson acquiesced, and wrote to Lieutenant-Governor Colden in favor of the measure, which, however, was never carried into effect. Johnson’s letters express much sympathy with the sufferers.
[383] For indications of the state of feeling among the Presbyterians, see the numerous partisan pamphlets of the day. See also Appendix, E.
[384] Gordon, Hist. Penn. 406. Penn. Gaz. No. 1833.
[385] Haz. Pa. Reg. XII. 10.
[386] Loskiel, Part II. 223.
[387] Historical Account of the Late Disturbances, 4.
[388] Haz. Pa. Reg. XII. 11. Memoirs of a Life passed chiefly in Pennsylvania, 39. Heckewelder, Narrative, 85. Loskiel, Part II., 223. Sparks, Writings of Franklin, VII. 293.
The best remaining account of these riots will be found under the first authority cited above. It consists of a long letter, written in a very animated strain, by a Quaker to his friend, containing a detailed account of what passed in the city from the first alarm of the rioters to the conclusion of the affair. The writer, though a Quaker, is free from the prejudices of his sect, nor does he hesitate to notice the inconsistency of his brethren appearing in arms. See Appendix, E.