Early in July, 1707, Johnson, without a conference, rejected a bill for a public stock in the Indian trade as 'a grand monopoly and against the Express words of the Charter.'45 [Note 45: JCHA July 4, 1707. See also ibid., March 6, April 23, 1707] He [Johnson] invited legislation 'agreeable to the Charter and their Lordships' instructions'; but when next day the Commons sent up a new bill under a similar title the upper house returned it on the technical ground that a bill once rejected could not be reintroduced in the same session. The Commons then threatened to hold up the governor's cherished project for fortifying Charles Town. 'We are not solicitous to provide a defence for our breasts,' they declared, 'when we may at the same time receive a mortall Stabb thro our Backs.'46 [Note 46: JCHA, July 5, 1707] This threat, or perhaps the menace of an appeal to the Crown, proved effective. 47 [Note 47: JCHA, July 5, 7, 11, 14, 15, 17, 18, 1707, for legislative history]