Page:American History Told by Contemporaries, v2.djvu/112

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84
Middle Colonies
[1744-1748

visoes in the Pardon ment.d its conceiv'd intitled to more Favour than those who have persisted without any Complyance. . . .

. . . By this Depos.n also appears, some of the Means that the Rioters use, to bring & keep People into their Combinations, to witt, Threats to pull down their Houses, if they did not joyn them, & the Fears of Death if they fell from their Engagem.ts with them.

By these Depositions appears, more of the Rioters Endeavours, & Ways of drawing innocent People, into their Combin.ns & that the Rioters pay Taxes to their Com.tees That One Rioter had sayd, he had payd so much from Time to Time, as with a Tax of 13. then layd on him, would have been suffid to have bought his Plantation — By this Depos,n also appears a continual Destruction & Waste of Timber, carryed on by the Rioters for three Years past, upon some Thousands of acres of Land belongg to P'sons therein named, which before that, were the best timbered Lands in New Jersey, but now, none good left on them, that a Team can easily approach — By this & the other Dispositions it appears that the Rioters of particular Places, have got Captains over them who they call by that Name, & that the said Amos Roberts seems to be the Chief Captain of the whole Rioters in this Province.

It appears not to the Council, that any One Poss'ion forcibly entred upon, & detained by, the Rioters, durg these Disturbances, has been restored to the Owners, pursuant to the Tenor of the Pardon afs.d & they have good Reason to believe that no One has been restored, but all are Forcibly detained to this Day.

On the 1.st Day of this instant December, the Co.11 of Prop.rs of East New Jersey, presented a Mem.l & Representation to the Gov.r Co.11 & Assembly, Setting Forth the miserable State of this Province, for that the Laws have, long ceased to be a Protect.n to His Maj.tys good Subjects therein, & the Right of the People to that Protection, & to expect that the Legislature of this Province will, at this Time, effectually interpose to enable the Officers of the Govrm.t to carry the Laws of the Land into Execution.

William A. Whitehead, editor, Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey (Newark, 1883), VII, 207-225 passim.