Address Presented to the Governour

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The House met: Present, Peter Kemble, David Ogden, Esquires, the Earl of Stirling, John Stevens, James Parker, the Chief Justice, Daniel Coxe, John Lawrence, and Francis Hopkinson, Esquires.

His Excellency came into the Council Chamber, and having signified that he was ready to receive the Address of this House, the House attended, and by their Speaker presented the following Address, viz:

To his Excellency WILLIAM FRANKLIN, Esquire, Captain-General, Governour and Commander-in-Chief in and over his Majesty' s Province of NEW-JERSEY, and Territories thereon depending in AMERICA, Chancellor and Vice Admiral in the same, &c.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY: We his Majesty' s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Council of the Province of New-Jersey, beg leave to return your Excellency our thanks for your Speech at the opening of this session, and to express our obligations for having given us so early an opportunity of transacting the publick business; and that you have been pleased therein to consult our convenience.

We agree with your Excellency that it would argue not only a great want of duty to his Majesty, but of regard to the good people of this Province, were we, on this occasion, to pass over in silence the present alarming transactions which are so much the object of publick attention; and therefore, beg leave to assure you, that, feeling ourselves strongly influenced by zealous attachment to the interests of Great Britain and her Colonies, and deeply impressed with a sense of the important connection they have with each other, we shall, with all sincere loyalty to our most gracious Sovereign, and all due regard to the true welfare of the inhabitants of this Province, endeavour to prevent mischiefs which the present situation of affairs seems to threaten; and by our zeal for the authority of Government on the one hand, and for the constitutional rights of the people on the other, aim at restoring that health of the political body, which every good subject must earnestly desire.

Your Excellency may be assured that we will exert our utmost influence, both in our publick and private capacities, to restore that harmony between the parent state and his Majesty' s American Dominions, which is so essential to the happiness and prosperity of the whole Empire; and earnestly looking for that happy event, we will endeavour to preserve peace and good order among the people, and a dutiful submission to the laws.