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Digital Paxton: Digital Collection, Critical Edition, and Teaching Platform

The Plain Dealer, Numb. II - 13

THE Difficulties we have been taught to believe will attend a Change, being thus happily surmounted; the next Thing to be enquired into, is, Whether we shall not suffer in the Loss of those Privileges which we now enjoy under our present Charter? The Answer to this is easy: We shall not. And that it may appear more plainly, let us examine the Situation of those Proprietary Governments that have already made the Trial, whose Circumstances were so exactly conformable to our own, that we cannot doubt from that they now enjoy, that we shall be Partakers with them of the same Blessings.

SOUTH-CAROLINA, whose Proprietors were Eight in Number, and not being incorporated, and always disagreeing with each other; Nothing on their Parts was proposed, or done, for the Good of the Community, and the Inhabitants seeing such Discord among their Proprietaries, got into religious Factions; and tho’ the Majority were Dissenters, repealed their Laws for Liberty of Conscience.

PENNSYLVANIA has two Proprietors, who have always agreed in every Point relating to the Province; have repeatedly, by their Governors, proposed to put it in a Posture of Defence; given many Thousand Pounds for its Protection, and used every Means His Majesty and his Council have appointed.-----The Inhabitants, who are exposed to the Enemy, unanimous in their Endeavors to repel every Invader, and the whole Community jealous to the last Degree, to preserve the Toleration inviolate.-----Such being the Similitude of the two Provinces in their Proprietary State, who can doubt of having the same Favours conferred to us, which the Carolinians have already received?

LET us further compare the Situation which the Jersies were in, under Proprietors, with our present State, and we shall find additional Encouragement from the Likeness, to assure ourselves of an immediate Compliance with our Petition.-----They complained of several “Grievances they laid under by the Neglect or Mismanagement of the Proprie-

Contents of this annotation:

Mistakenly attributed by Evans to Hugh Williamson, author of numbers 1 and 3. Cf. the Advertisement in number 3, where it is stated: The author of this is obliged to the gentleman, who wrote the piece which was published on Teusday [sic], by the title of Plain dealer, no. 2. As his endeavours to prevent the people from being deceived by the chicane of a faction, prove him to be a friend to the oppress'd inhabitants of this province. Dated May 7, 1764. Imprint supplied by Evans.