32 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OF THE 



The Province of Pennsylvania was then divided 

 into two great parties. The one was the party of 

 the Proprietaries, who were struggling to preserve 

 their federal sovereignty, which they were in danger 

 of losing. They had governed with too high a hand, 

 and the King had been petitioned to make Pennsyl- 

 vania a Eoyal Government. The other was the 

 popular party, opposed to their Government and to 

 this the greatest number if not all the members of 

 the Junto, now called the "American Society " be- 

 longed. To the Proprietary's party belonged the 

 wealthiest and most influential men, such as the 

 Aliens, the Shippens, the Francises and all that were 

 considered as the aristocracy of the country. The 

 officers of the Government, of course, belonged to 

 it. At the head of this party was James Hamilton, 

 who had been twice Governor of the Province and 

 was the President of the Provincial Council. The 

 leader of the opposite party was Benjamin Franklin, 

 who was then in England, but had great influence 

 in the Province, whose agent he was at the British 

 Court. 



These parties had been much exasperated against 

 each other; but the encroachments of the British 

 Parliament on the liberties of the country, had in a 

 degree softened those asperities and brought the 

 citizens nearer to each other for the purpose of 

 legal resistance. Yet the flame of party rancour was 

 not extinguished, particularly in the highest ranks 

 of Society. 



