The Note-Maker Noted: Colonial Political Discourse

The Note-maker noted and the observer observed upon, or, A full answer to some notes and observations upon the votes of the House of Assembly of the colony of New-Jersey; Being a vindication of the present, and some former governors, councils and assemblies of the said colony, against the unreasonable cavils of the said observer or note-maker, or as it’s commonly shortened to, The Note-maker noted, is an anonymous response to notes and observations recorded on the votes cast at a meeting of the New Jersey House of Assembly at Burlington, New Jersey, on the 16th of October, 1742 .

Background

Historical Context

The Province of New Jersey was one of Great Britain’s Middle Colonies. The province came under English rule in 1664 before becoming a royal colony in 1702. After the Declaration of Independence was issued to Great Britain in 1776, the province became the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Legislature was established after the province became a colony in 1702 consisting of the appointed upper house Council and the elected lower house General Assembly . On October 16th, 1742, the General Assembly met in Burlington, New Jersey, under speaker of the Assembly, Andrew Johnston. Following the meeting and legislative votes that occurred, a book was published in 1743 called, Extracts from the minutes and votes of the House of Assembly of the colony of New-Jersey To which are added some notes and observations upon the said votes, which contained minutes from the meeting, opinionated notes on these excerpts against the voting results, and former Governor William Burnet’s letter from 20 years prior when he dissolved the assembly . In response to the claims and arguments in the book by the anonymous “Note-maker,” The Note-maker noted was published that same year.

Content

The author follows the arguments and minutes that the note-maker used, rebutting them all both with their own arguments and questioning the note-maker’s legitimacy and expertise on the matter. The reader is expected to have the notes and observations nearby for reference, though the writer occasionally responds to excerpts that are included in the text. Within the text, the author goes through each excerpt, marking them with the minutes’ italicized date at the beginning of a new paragraph, and refutes the note-maker’s claims while also working to defend Governors, both present and past, council members, and other politicians that the note-maker spoke against for their handling of bills of credit, alleged misappropriation of funds, and voting against bills because they might distance the colonies from the British Crown. The writer clarifies the reasons behind the decisions while showing where they believe the note-maker misunderstood or exaggerated an excerpt.

Language

The language within the text is more striking and frank than one might expect, with the tone continually reflecting the author’s outrage and offense taken from the notes and observations. There are various examples of this argumentative language including the few guesses that the writer makes about the note-maker’s identity. The author writes, “One would take him to be a Pretender to the Law,” and “I may mean that he is one of these Politicos…make[s] everything stand for any thing, or any thing for nothing.”. Here the writer is questioning the observer’s credibility through these speculations. When responding to other arguments, the author also includes language such as, “after this, he tells us a dull tale about something,” and “[the note-maker] mentions an old thread-bare controversy…[then] immediately forgets himself and goes on with a long story”. This language may be one reason as to why the writer is anonymous, though they make sure to pick a politically decisive pseudonym by calling themselves “a Lover of True English Liberty,” strongly implying that the note-maker is not.

Provenance

The Curtis Publishing Company, founded in 1891, owned the text along with more than 300 other titles printed by Benjamin Franklin. In 1920, the company donated their collection to the University of Pennsylvania where the collection, including the book, have resided ever since .