[481] Col. Doc., iv. 159.
[482] The state of affairs in Pennsylvania and Delaware resulting from it is best described in a letter written in June, 1707, by Col. Robert Quary, the judge of the admiralty in New York and Pennsylvania, to the Lords of Trade.
[483] Being the first settlers of the province, the Quakers had very naturally made affirmation instead of an oath a matter of great importance. Upon a revision of the laws following the resumption of the government by Penn, a law concerning the manner of giving evidence, passed in 1701, was repealed by the queen in 1705, not because the English government intended to deprive the Quakers of Pennsylvania of their cherished privilege, but because it punished false affirming with more severity than the law of England required for false swearing. Hence Gookin’s objections. The whole question was not satisfactorily settled until the passage of a law, and its approval by the king, prescribing the forms of declaration of fidelity, abjuration, and affirmation.
[484] He was a considerable trader there when the place was first laid out for a town. Proud’s Pennsylvania.
[485] These £45,000 Pennsylvania currency represented only £29,090 sterling, gold being sold then at £6 6s. 6d. p. oz., and silver at 8s. 3d. p. oz.
[486] East New Jersey the same; New York and West New Jersey ten shillings and sixpence.
[487] During the following year, and as long as the war lasted, the same £100,000 were yearly voted, and bills to that amount emitted, secured by a tax on property. Again, in 1764, the Indian troubles about Fort Augusta caused another emission of £55,000. The war with Spain threatened Philadelphia, and £23,500 more were voted. Again, in 1769, bills to the amount of £14,000 were granted towards the relief of the poor in Philadelphia, and £60,000 for the king’s use.
[488] Chapter iv.
[489] See ante, p. 143.
[490] Vol. VI.