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To his most Excellency Majesty
The humble petition of Isaac Levy humbly Sheweth

That [unclear text: ye ] petitioner in all due Submission did petition by himself & by his agents his late majesty in
1759 representing among other things his right & title to a moiety of two Islands called Ossaba & Sapalo lying on [unclear text: ye ] coast of Georgia, Sold by order of his said majesty, & praying to be restored to [unclear text: ye ] said Lands
Your petitioner humbly begs leave to say that he conceives these lands were taken from him contrary to & inconsistent with the Laws of England by wch. yr. petir. [which your petitioner] is [unclear text: a very ] great Sufferer for yr. petir. [your petitioner] humbly conceives that it is the invariable Law of England, that yr. [your] majestys subjects can not be disposesed [dispossessed] of landed property but by legal proceeding in the Law & yr. petr. [your petitioner] humbly conceives & represents to yr. [your] majesty that yr. per. [your petitioner] was notwithstanding such Law, disposesed [dispossessed] of his Landed property by a partial & illegal Treaty carried on in his absence & unknown to him for some time by his late majesty's governor with a person named Thomas Bosomworth who had no right to treat with him & had by no means a right to give possession of the said Land
That if the said partial & illegal & [unclear text: ye ] said Islands in Immediate consequence thereof had not been [illegible text] Treaty had not been carried into Execution


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yr. petitr [your petitioner] would now have been [added text: in quiet & Just possesion ] of his property
Your petr. [petitioner] begs leave to shew that he is a Native of the [unclear text: city ] of New york in America has been a resident in London, a merchant of some reputation upwards of 15 years & in that time paid great Sums of money to the [illegible text] or dutys [duties] on merchandize [merchandise] & has otherwise been a usefull [useful] member of [unclear text: ye ] community that yr. petitr. [your petitioner] did not act contrary to or in defiance of the laws in purchasing the said lands, but before land he had the best advice of Council in London who gave of under his hand to yr petitr. [your petitioner] that [unclear text: ye ] title was good & valid, & the reason yr. petir [your petitioner] did pay a valuable consideration for [unclear text: ye ] Land
your petir. [petitioner] humbly conceives as he was & is advised that there is no Law in England that hinders his majestys subjects from purchasing Lands from the Indians in Ameri [added text: ca ] & this is clearly seen from yr. [your] majestys proclamation of [unclear text: ye ]
7 October 1763, wch. [which] forbids yr. [your] majestys subjects from that time to make purchases, for the proclamn. [proclamation] recites that "Whereas great frauds & abuses have been Committed in the purchasing Lands of the Indians to The great prejudice of our interest & to the great dissatisfaction of the said Indians, in order therefore to prevent such Irregularitys [Irregularities] for future, & to [unclear text: ye ] End that the Indians may


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be convinced of our justice & determined resolution to remove all reasonable cause of of [of] discontent, We do with the advice of our privy councils strictly injoin [enjoin], & require that no private person do presume to make any purchase from the said Indians of any Lands reserved to the said Indians with [added text: [unclear text: in ] ] those parts of our Colonies where we have thought proper to allow Settlements, but that if at any time any of the said Indians should be induced to dispose of [unclear text: ye ] said Lands, the same shall be purchased by us in our name &c &c [et cetera et cetera] "
Your petitr [petitioner] therefore humbly conceives that if there was any Law forbiding [forbidding] purchasing from the indians, yr. [your] majesty would have had no occasion to prevent it by yr. [your] majestys proclamation, that therefore all just & fair purchases made before
1763, must be understood from [unclear text: ye ] recited proclamation to be valid [added text: & lawfull [lawful] ], for even those unfair, fraudulent purchases, are called in the said proclamation only Irregularitys [Irregularities] & are not vacated [deleted text: [illegible text] ] & your petitioner presumes to say that his purchase is held under [deleted text: the most ] [added text: as ] just & fair purchase of any ever made, & was not prejudicial to yr. [your] majestys interest nor dissatisfactory to [unclear text: ye ] Indians, & with respect to provincial Laws, there was no act of assembly passed in Georgia till
15 february 1756 & confirmed by


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the king in Council
10 August 1759 prohibiting Indian purchase, & this act is 11 years after [unclear text: ye ] purchase & [unclear text: quiet ] possesion [possession] of yr. petitionr [your petitioner] & his associate
yr. petitr [your petitioner] begs leave to represent to yr. [your] majesty a Case (somewhat similar [deleted text: to ] of this yr. petitr. [your petitioner] ) in
1732 upon a petition of [unclear text: Wales ] & others [document damaged] the Committe [Committee] reported to her late majesty

"that the attorney & Sollicitor [Solicitor] general (to whome [whom] it was [unclear text: referred ] for their opinion) observed in their report that some objections were made before them to the nature of the grants & conveyances under which [unclear text: ye ] petitioners claimed & to the manner of deduceing [deducing] down their titles, but they conceive that in questions of this kind concerning rights to Lands in the west [illegible text] & upon inquieries [inquiries] of this nature the same regularity & exactness is not to be expressed as in private suits concerning titles to Lands in England but that in these cases the principle regard ought to be had to [unclear text: ye ] possesion [possession] & the expences [expenses] the partys have been at in endevouring [endeavoring] to settle & cultivate such Lands
Therefore upon the whole they are of opinion that the petitioners their


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Tenants & agents ought not to be disturbed in their possessions or interrupted in carrying on their settlement in the Lands granted them within the district in question
wch. [which] report his majestys Attorney & sollicitor general having been layd [laid] by [unclear text: ye ] Lords commissioners for trade & plantation before this committe [committee] by their report of the
6 June last, [unclear text: ye ] Lords of yr. [your] committe [committee] did this day proceed to take [unclear text: ye ] whole matter into consideration & do thereupon humbly report to yr. [your] majesty that they agreed in opinion with his majestys attorney & Sollicitor [Solicitor] general &c &c [et cetera et cetera], & that [unclear text: ye ] petitioners their tenants or agents ought not to be disturbed in their possesions [possessions] or interrupted in their settlement on [unclear text: ye ] said Lands &c &c [et cetera et cetera], & their Lordships are further of opinion that it may be adviseable for yr. [your] majesty to revoke [unclear text: ye ] instruction given by his majesty on the
27 April 1730 to [unclear text: Rd. Phillips ] governor & [unclear text: Dd. [David] Dunbar ] relating to [unclear text: ye ] [illegible text] [unclear text: ye ] said Lands & to order [unclear text: ye ] said [unclear text: Dd [David] Dunbar ] to quit the possesion [possession] of all the said Lands
his majes [majesty] this day took [unclear text: ye ] said report into consideration & was pleased with [unclear text: ye ] advice of his majestys [added text: [illegible text] ] council to approve thereof, & her majesty [deleted text: is her majesty ] is hereby pleased to revoke such part of [unclear text: ye ] said instructions given by his majesty on the
27 Aprill [April] 1730"



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yr. [your] petitioner begs leave to shew that [unclear text: those ] Islands now in possesion [possession] of Tho [Thomas] Bosomworth under whome [whom] yr. petitr. [your petitioner] claims from the year
1747 to [unclear text: ye ] year
1754 & 5 years afterwards in the joint possesion [possession] of him & yr. [your] petitioner & yr petitr. [your petitioner] has been at a great Expence [Expense] in Endevouring [Endeavoring] to settle & cultivate the said Lands, & if the Warr [War] had not broke out in
1756, all the said Islands would have been long before now improved by your petitr. [petitioner] to the best advantage, as it was his interest & went to America in
1755 for that [deleted text: on ] purpose being under an obligation at his [unclear text: sole expence [expense] ] so to do by contract entered into with [unclear text: ye ] said Tho [Thomas] Bosomworth, but before the War was expired the said Islands were sold by order of his Majesty
your petitioner therefore humbly hopes & prays your Majesty to order the restitution of a moiety of [unclear text: ye ] said Islands to yr. [your] petitioner or otherwise to grant unto yr. [your] petitioner some Lands in yr. [your] Majestys Ceded Islands in the west Indies, or a Grant of the Coal mine on the Island of Cape Breton for a Term of years & under Such other conditions


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as yr. [your] Majesty shall please to order, the working of whc. [which] [illegible text], yr. [your] petitioner presumes to say & can demonstrate will tend to incourage [encourage] the Navigation of great Britain as well as that [added text: of yr [your] majestys colonys [colonies] ] of America, & can not be attended with disadvantage to great Britain [document damaged] & whc. [which] if it should at any time appear to have the least prospect of, your petitioner will as he ought Surrender [document damaged] [unclear text: ye ] Land, & yr. [your] petitioner shall [illegible text] [document damaged] as in Duty bound





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my [document damaged] delivered [document damaged]
1767.

22d Decemr. [December] 1767
referred


4 August
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