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ADVERTISEMENT.

1 H E Author of the following Speech
might juftify his manner of publifhing It
by very great authorities. Some of the
iioblefl: pieces of eloquence, the world is
in poflcfrion of, were not fpoken on the
great occafious they were Intended to ferve,
and feem to have been preferved merely
from the high fenfc that was entertained
of their merit.

The prefcnt performance appears in pub-
lic from humbler but jufter motives :
from the great national importance of the
fubjea ; from a very warm def^re and fome
faint hope of fcrving our count, y, by fug-
gcfting a few of the ufeful truths which
great men are apt to overlook.

The Author has abftained moft rell-

gioufly from pcrfonal refledions. He has

4 cenfured

.>i.iri nn < W MII

[ vi ]

ccnfured no man, and therefore hopes he
has offended no nrian. He feels mod fen-
fibly che misfortune of differing from many
of thofe Vv'hom he wifhes to live and aft
with ; and from fome of as much virtue
and ability as this kingdom affords. But
there are alfb great authorities on the other
fide ; and the greatefl authority can never
perfuade him, that it is better to extort by
force, what he thinks may be gained more
furely by gentle means.

He looks upon power as a coarfe and
mechanical inflrument of government, and
holds the ufe of it to be particularly dan-
gerous to the relation that fubfifls between
a mother- country and her colonies. In fuch
a cafe he doubts whether any point ought
to be purfued, which cannot be carried by
perfuafion, by the fenfe of a common in-
tereft, and the exercife of a moderate au-
^ a r thority.

\ ■

I vii ]

thority. He thinks it unnecefTary to lay
down the limits of fovcreignty and obedi-
ence, and more unncceflary to fight for them.
If we can but reftore that mutual regard and
confidence, which formerly governed our
whole intercourfe with our colonies, parti-
cular cafes will eafily provide for them-
felves. He zdis the part of the trued
patriot in this dangerous crifis, whether he
lives at London or at Bofton, who purfues
fmcerely the moft lenient and conciliating
meafures ; and wiflies to reftore the public
peace by fome better method than the
ilaughter of our fellow-citizens.

A SPEECH,

• K- , . 4_ * i^

>. * ,

• ■' -■ 4 1,..!

■ : ' ' 1 — I", t

.fr,.:

i /

■ s- •:

S P E E C H, &c.

It is of fiich great importance to com-
pofe or even to moderate the diflentions,
which fubfift at prcfcnt between our un-
happy country and her colonies, that I
cannot help endeavouring, from the faint
profpea I have of contributing fomething
to fo good an end, to overcome the inex-
prefhble relu6tance I feel at uttering my
thoughts before tlic moll refpedtable of all
audiences.

The true objea of all o'lr dehberations
on this occafion, which I hope we fhaU

B never

iff

( 2 )

never lolc fight ofj is a full and cordial
reconciliation with North America. Now
I own, my Lords, I h«vc many doubts
whether the terrors and piinlfliments, we
hang out to them nt prefiiit, are the HirLfl
means of producing this reconclUation.
Let us at lead: do this jiiftlcc to tlic peo-
ple of North America to own, that
we can all remember a time when thcv
were much better fricndi than at pre lint to
their mother country. Thev are neither
our natural nor our determined enemies.
Before the Stnmp A*fl, wc confidered them
in the light of as good fubjc»5ls as the na-
tives of any county in England.

It Is worth while to enquire by what
flops we fi\'([ gained their aifcclion, and pre-
ferved it fo lona:; and bv what conducl we
have liitcly lofl it. Stieh an enquiry may
point out the means ot rciloring peace,
and make the ufe of force unncceflary
againft a people, whom I cannot vet for-
bear to conlider as our brcihre;i.

{ 3 )

It has always been a mod arJuous talk
to govern diftant provinces, with even a
tolerable appearance of jnfticc. The vice-
roys and governors of other nations arc
ufually temporary tyrants, who think
themfelves obliged ro make tlie mofl of
their time ; who not only plunder the
people, but carry away tlieir fpolls, and
dry up all the fources of commerce and
induflry. Taxation in their hands, is an
unlimited power of opprcltion: but m
whatever hands the power of taxation is
lodoed, it implies and includes all other
powers. Arbitrary taxation is plunder
authorifed by law : It is the tupport and
the efTcrcc of tyranny ; and has done more
mifchief to mankind, than thofe other three
fcourres from heaven, famine, pcdilence
and the fword. I need not carry your
Lordfhips out of your own knowledge,
or out of your own dominion,., to make
you conceive what mifery this right ot
taxation is capable of proihicing in a pro-

V> z viuciil

( 4 )

vinclal government. We need only re-
colle£t tliat our countrymen in India, have
in the fpace of five or fix years, in virtue
of this right, deftroycd, ftarved and driven
away more inhabitants from Bengal, than
are to be found at prefcnt in all our
American Colonies ; more than all thofe
formidable numbers wliich we have been
nurfing up for the fpace of 2C0 years, with
fo much care and fuccefs, to the aftonifti-
ment of all Europe. This is no exagge-
ration, my Lords, but plain matter of fa<^,

colledled from the accounts lent over by
Mr. Haftings, whofc name I mention with
honour and veneration. And I muft own,
fuch accounts have very much Icllened
the plcafure I ufcd to feel in thinking
myfelf an Englifiiman. Wc ought furcly
not to hold our colonies totally incxcudible
for wifliing to exempt thcmfclvcs from a
grievance, which has caufed fuch unex-
ampled devaflation ; and, my Lords, it
•would be too direracf ful to ourlclvcs, to

tjy

■»■ "P

( s )

try lb cruel an experiment more than once.
Let us refledt, that hefore thefe innovations
were thought of, by following the line of
good conduct which had been marked out
by our ancejflors, we governed North
America with mutual benefit to them and
ourfelves. It was a happy idea, that made
us firft confider them rather as inftruments
of commerce than as objects of govern-
ment. It was wife and generous to give
them the form and the fpirit of our own con-
ftitution ; an aflemhly in which a greater
equality of reprcfentation has been pre-
fervcd than at home ; and councils and
governors, fuch as were adapted to their
fituation, tho* they muft be acknowledged
to be very inferior copies of the dignity of
this Iloufe, and the Majefty of the Crown,

But what is far more valuable than all th«^
reft, we gave them liberty. We allowed
them to ufe their own jud'^ir.cnt in the

manage-

J^'I — 1

■■■■■■II

1 1 1

[y ''i

( 6 ) .

nianagcmcnt of their own intered. T\\c
idea of taxing them never entered our
heads. On the contrary they have ex-
perienced our liberality on many public
occafions : we have given them bounties to
encourage their induftry, and have de-
manded no return but what every flate ex-
ads from its colonies, the advantages of
an exclulive commerce, and the regulations
that are ncccflary to fecure it. We made
requifitions to them on great occafions, in
the flime manner as our princes fornier-
ly afkcd benevolences of their fubjcfls ;
and as nothing was afked but what was
vifibly for the public good, it was ahvays
granted; and they fometimcs did more than
we expected. The matter of right was nei-
ther dlfputed, nor even coiilidered. And
let us not forget that the people of New
England were themfelves, during the laft
war, the mod forward of all in the national
cau{<; ; th.at every year we voted them a

confitlcrablc fum, in acknowledgement of

tiieiv

( 7 )

their zeal and their fervices ; that in the
preceding war, they alone enabled us to
make the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, by
fiirnifliing us with the only equivalent for
tlic towns that were taken from onr allies
in Flanders; and tliat in times of pence,
they alone have taken from us fix times a.'.
much of ourwcoUen manufactures, as the
whole kingdom of Ireland. Such a colony,
my Lords, not only from the juftice, but
from the gratitude we owe them, have a
right to be heard in their defence ; and if
their crimes are not of the mod inexpiable
kind, 1 could almoil: iliy, they have a right
to be forgiven.

But in the times we {peak of, our pub-
lic intcrcourfe was carried on with cafe
and fatisfadlion. We regarded them a>i
our friends and fellow-citizens, and relied
as mu-h upon their fidelity as on the in-
habitants of our own country. They faw
our power with plcafure ; for tliey confi-
de red

-J LI llllif

;|-

( s )

dered It only as their protedion. They
inherited our laws, our language, and
our cufloms ; they preferred our manufac-
tures, and followed our fiifhions with a
partiality, that fecured our exclufive trade
with them, more effi^clually than all the
regulations and vigilance of the cuftom-
houfe. Had wc fuffered them to enrich us
a little longer, and to grow a little richer
themfelves, their m.en of fortune, like the
Weft-Indians, would undoubtedly have
made this country their place of education
and refbrt. For they looked up to Eng-
land with reverence and affeflion, as to the
country of their friends and anceflors.
They efteemcd and they called it their
home, and thought of it as the Jews once
thought of the Land of Canaan.

Now, my Lords, confider with yourfelves
what were the chains and ties that united
this people to their mother-country, with
{o much warmth and aife(5lion, at fo amaz-
ing

paipnflp<w

( 9 )

ing a diftance. The colonies of other na
tions have been difcontented with their
treatment, and not without fufficient caufe ;
always murmuring at taeir grievances, and
fometimes breaking out into ads of rebel-
lion. Our fubjeds at home, with all their
reafons for fitisfadion, have never been
entirely fatisfied. Since the beginning of
this century we have had two rebellions,
feveral plots and confpiracies ; and we our-
felves have been witneflcs to the moft dan-
gerous excefles of fedition. But the pro-
vinces in North America have engaged in
no party, have excited no oppofition j they
have been utter Grangers even to the name
of Whig and Tory. In all changes, in
all revolutions, they have quietly followed
the fortunes and fubmitted to the govern-
ment of England.

Now let me appeal to your Lordfliips as
to men of enlarged and liberal minds, who
have been led by your office and rank to

C the

( 10 )

the ftudy of hiflory. Can you find in the
long fucceflion of ages, in the whole ex-
tent of human affairs, a fingle inftance,
where diftant provinces have been pre-
ferved in fb flouriftiing a ftate, and kept
at the fame time in fuch due f "bjedion to
their mother country ? My Lores, there is
no inftance ; the cafe never exifted before.
It is perhaps the moft fingular phaeno-
menon in all civil hiftory; and the caufe
of it well deferves your ferious confidera-
tion. The true caufe is, that a mother
country never exifted before, who placed
her natives and her colonies on the fame
equal footing; and joined with them in
fairly carrying on one common intereft.

You ought to confider this, my Lords, not
as a mere hiftorical fad, but as a moft im-
portant and invaluable difcovery. It en-
larges our ideas of the power and energy
of good government beyond all former ex-
amples ; and fliews that it can adt like gra-
vitation

* '

( " )

vitatlon at the greateft diftaiices. It proves
to a demonftratlon that you may have
good fubjeds in the remoteft corners of
the earth, if you will but treat them with
kindnefs and equity. If you have any
doubts of the truth of this kind of reafon-
ing, the experience we have had of a diffe-
rent kind will entirely remove them.

The good genius of our country had led
us to the fimple and happy method of go-
verning freemen, which I have endeavour-
ed to defcribe. Our minifters received it
from their predeceflbrs, and for fome time
continued to obferve it ; but without know-
ing its value. At length, prefuming on
their own wifdom, and the quiet dilpofi-
tion of the Americans, they flattered them-
felves that we might reap great advantages
from their profperity by deftroying the
caufe of it. They chole in an unlucky
hour to treat them as other nations have
thought fit to treat their colonies j they
threatened and they taxed them.

<».?

C 2

I do

( 12 )

'Rl' '
I '

I do not now enquire whether taxation
is matter of right; I only confider it as
matter of experiment ; for furcly the art
of government itfelf is founded on ex-
perience. I need not fuggcfl: what were
the confequenccj of tliis change of mea-
fures. The evils produced hy it were fuch
as we flill remember and ftill feel. We
fuifered more by our lofs of trade with
them, than the wealth flowing in from
India was able to recompence. The bank-
ruptcy of the Eaft India Company, may
be fufficiently accounted for by the rapine
abroad and the knavery at home ; but it
certainly would have been delayed fome
years, had we continued our commerce
with them in the fingle article of tea. But
that and many other branches of trade have
been diverted into other channels, and may
probably never return intire to their old
courfe. But what is word: of all, we have
lofl their confidence and friendfhip ; we
' have

( 13 )

have jgnorantly undermined the mod folid
foundation of our own power.

In order to obferve the ftrlctcft impar-
tiahty, it is but juft for us to enquire
what wc have gained by thefe taxes as well
as what we have loft. I am afllired that
out of all the fums raifed in America the
laft year but one, if the expences are de-
du6tcd, which the natives would clfe have
difcharged thcmfelves, the net revenue
paid into the Trcafury to go in aid of the
finking fund, or to be employed in what-
ever public fervices parliament (hall think
fit, is eighty-five pounds. Eighty-five
pounds, my Lords, is the whole equi-
valent, we have received for all the
hatred and mifchief, and all the infi-
nite lofles this kingdom has fuffered
during that year in her difputes with North
America. Money that is earned fo dearly
as this, ought to be expended with great
wifdom and ceconomv. My Lords, wr.re
,%' you

( 14 )

yop to take up but one thoufand pound*
more from North America upon the fame
terms, the nation itfelf would be a bank-
rupt. But the molt amazing and the moft
ala-ming circumftancc is ftill behind. It
Is that our cafe is io incurable, that all
this experience has made no impreffion
upon us. And yet, my Lords, if you
could but keep thefe fadls, which I have
ventured to lay before you, for a few mo-
ments in your minds, (fuppofing your
right of taxation to be never fb clear) yet
I think you muft: ncceflarily perceive that it
cannot be exercifed in any manner that
can be advantageous to ourfelves or them.
We have not always the wifdom to tax
ourfelves with propriety ; and I am confi-
dent we could never tax a people at that
diflance, without infinite blunders, and in-
finite opprefiion. And to own the truth,
my Lords, we are not honefl enough to
trufl ourfelves with the power of (hifting
our own burthens upon them. Allow me,

therefore.

{ IS )

therefore, to conclude, I think, unanfwer-
ably, that the inconvenience and diftrefs
we have felt in this change of our condudt,
no lefs than the eafe and tranquility we
formerly found in the purfuit of it, will
force us, if we have any fenfe left, to re-
turn to the good old path we trod in fo
long, and found it the way of plcadintnefs.

I defire to have it underflood, that I am
oppofing no rights that our Icgiflature may
think proper to claim: I am only com-
paring two different methods of govern-
ment. By your old rational and generous
adminiftration, by treating the Americans
as your friends and fellow-citizens, you
made them the liappiell of human kind;
and at the flime time drew from them, by
commerce, more clear profit than Spain
has drawn from all its mines : and their
growing numbers were a daily-incrcafing
addition to your ilrength. There was no
* room

( i6 )

;*oom for improvement or alteration in fo
noble a lyii^m of policy as this. It was.
landiiied by time, by experience, by pub-
lic utility. I will venture to ufe a bold
language, my Lords ; I will aflert, that if
we had uniformly adopted this equitable,
adminiftration in all our diilant provinces
as far as circumftances would admit, it
would have placed this country, for ages,
at the head of human affiiirs in every quar-
ter of the world. My Lords, this is no
vifionary or chimerical dodrine. The idea
of governing provinces and colonies by
force is vifionary and chimerical. 1 he ex-
periment has often been tried and it has
never fjcceeded. It ends infallibly in the
ruin of the one country or the other, or in
the laft degree of wretchedncfs.

If there is any truth, my Lords, in what

I have faid, and I mofl firmly believe it

all to be true ; let me recommend it to you

to refunie that generous and benevolent

4 fpirit

W""

""'Sjpipiipw"

[ 17 ]

fpirit in the difcuirion of our diiferenccs,
which iifed to be the iburce of our union.
We certainly did wrong in taxing them :
when the Stamp Acl was repealed, we did
wrong in laying on other taxes, which
tended only to keep alive a claim, that was
mifchievous, impracli cable and ufelcfs.
We aflcd contrary to our own principles
of liberty, and to tlie generous fentiments
of our fovcrelf2;n, when we defu'ed to have
their judges dependent on the crown for
their ftlpends as well as their continuance.
It was equally unwlfe to wlili to make the
governors indei^mdcnt of the people for
their lalarics. We ought to coufider the
governors, not as fpies intruded with the
management of our intereft, but as the
fcrvants of tlie people, recommended
to them by us. Our ears ought to
be open to every complaint againft the
o-overnors ; but we ought not to fulfer the
governors to complain of the people. Wc
have taken a different method, to which no

L) i'li^^^^l

[ i8 ]

Imall part of our difficulties are owing.
Our ears have been open to the governors
and fhut to the people. This muft necef-
fariJy lead us to countenance the jobhs of
interefled men, under the pretence of de-
fending the rights of the crown. But the
people are certainly the heft judges whether
they are well governed ; and the crown can
have no rights inconfiftent with the happi-
nefs of the people.

Now, my Lords, we ought to do what
I have fuggefted, and many things more,
out of prudence and juftice, to win their
affeclion, and to do them public fervice.
If we have a right to govern them, let us
exert it for the true ends of povernmcnt.
But, my Lords, what we ought to do, from
motives of reafon and juflice, ismuchmt)re
than is fufficient to bring them to a reafon-
able accommodation. For thus, as I ap-
prehend, ilands the cafe. They petition for
the repeal of an ad of parliament, which

tl;

J.,!

[ 19 ]

they complain of as unjufl and oppreffivc.
And there is not a man amongft us, not
the vvarmeft friend of adminiftration, who
does not fmcerely wiih that ad had never
been made. In fad, they c.ily aik for
what we wifh to be rid of. Under fuch a
difpofition of mind, one would Imagine
there could be no cccafion for fleets and
armies to bring men to a good underftand-
ing. But, my Lords, our difficulty lies
in the point of honour. We mud not let
down the dignity of the mother- country ;
but preferve her fovereignty over all the
parts of the Britifli Empire. This language
has fomething in it that founds pleafant to
the cars of Engllfhrnen, but is otherwife
of little weight. For fure, my Lords,
Ihere are methods of making rcafonablc
conceffions, and yet without injuring our
dignity. Miniftcrs are generally fruitful
in expedients to reconcile difficulties of
this kind, to efcape the embarrafTmcnts of
forms, the competitions of dignity and

D 2

prc'

•' ■ '■ rftpr

i^ s

C 20 ]

precedency; and to let cla(hing rights flecp,
while they tranl^icl their hufinefs. Now,
my Lords, on this occaiion can they find
no excufe, no pretence, no invention, no
happy turn of language, not one colourable
argumeiit for doing the greatcft fervice, they
can ever render to their country ? It mufi:
be fomcthing more than incapacity that
makes men barren of expedients at fuch
a feafon as this. Do, but for once, remove
this impradlicablc ftatclinefs and dignity,
and treat the matter with a little common
lenfe and a little good humour, and our re-
conciliation would not be the work of an
hour. But after all, my Lords, If there
is any thing mortifying in undoing the
errors of our minif^Cis, it is a mortihcation
we ought to fubmit to. If it was unjufl:
to tax them, we ought to repeal it for
their fakes ; if it was unwifc to tax them,
we ought to repeal it for our own. A mat-
ter fo trivial in itfclf as tJic three-penny
duty upon tea, but which has given caufc

5 '

[ 21 1

to fo much national hatred and reproach,
ought not to be fuffered to fublift an unne-
ceffary day. Muft the intereft, the com-
merce and the union of this country and
her colonies, be all of them facrificed to
fave the credit of one imprudent meafure of
adminiftration ? I own I cannot compre-
hend that there is any dignity either in
being in the wrong, or in perfifting in it.
I have known friendship preferved and af-
fe£Vion gained, but I never knew dignity
loft, by the candid acknowledgement of an
error. And, my Lords, let me appeal to
your own experience of a few years back-
ward (I will not mention particulars, be-
caufe I would pafs no cenfures and revive
no unpleafant reflexions) but I think every
candid minifter mufl own, that adminiftra-
tlon has fuffered in more inftances than one,
both in intercft and credit, by not chufmg to
give up points, that could not be defended.

With

' J !

[ « ]

With regard to the people of Bofton, I
am free to own that I neither approve of
their riots nor their punifhment. And yet
if we inflid it as we ought, with a confci-
oufnefs that we were ourfelves the aggref-
fors, that we gave the provocation, and
that their difobedience is the fi*uit of our
own imprudent and imperious conduct, I
think the punifhment cannot rife to any
great degree of fe verity.

I own my Lordi?, I have read the report
of the Lords Committees of this houfe,
with very different fentiments from thofe
with which it was drawn up. It feems to be
deligned, that we (hould confider their vio-
lent meafures and fpeechcs, as fo many
determined adls of oppofition to the fove-
reignity of England, ariling from the ma-
lignity of their own hearts. One would
think the mother country had been totally
filent and paffive in the progrefs of the
whoh aitair. I on the contrary confider

2 thefe

I ■ )

[ ^3 ]

le
er

thefe violences as the natural effeds of fuck
meafnres as ours on the mhids of freemen.
And this is the moll ufeful point of view,
in which government can confider them.
In their fituation, a wife man would exped
CO meet with the ftrongeft marks of
pafiion and imprudence, and be prepared
to forgive them. The firft and eaficft
thing to be done is to correct our own
errors; and I am confident we fhould
find it the mod: effeclual method to corred
theirs. At any rate let us put ourfelvcs
in the right ; and then if we mull con-
tend with North America, we fliall be
unanimous at home, and the wife and the
moderate there will be our friends. At
prefent we force every North American to
be our enemy ; and the wife and moderate
at home, and thole immenfe multitudes,
which mufl foon begin to fuffer by the
madnefs of our rulers, will unite to op-
pofe them. It is a ftrange idea we have
taken up, to cure their refentmcnts by iii-

creafuig

I H ]

creafing their provocations ; to remove the
efFefls of our own ill concIu(5l, by multi-
plying the inftanccs of it. But the fpirit
of blindncfs and infatuation is gone forth.
We arc hurrying wildly on without any
fixed dcfign, without any important ob-
ject. We purfue a vain phantom of un-
limited fovereignty, which was not made
for man ; and reject the folid advantages of
a moderate, ufeful and intelligible au-
thority. That juft God, whom we have
all fo deeply offended, can hardly inflid: a
feverer national puniflimcnt, than by com-
mitting us to the natural confequenccs of
our own conduct. Indeed, in my opinion
a blacker cloud never hung over this
Illand.

To reafon confidently with the prin-
ciples of juftice and national friendfhip,
which I have endeavoured to eftablifli, or
rather to revive what w^as eflablilhed by
our anceftors, as our wifcfl: rule of condu(^

for

[ *S ]

for the government of America; I mufl:
neceflkrlly dlfapprove of the Bill before ns;
for it contradlds every one of them. In
our prefent fituatlon every adt of the le-
giflatiue, even our ads of leverity ought
to be fo many fteps towards the reconcilia-
tion we wifli for. But to change tlie go-
vernment of a people, without their con-
fent, is the higheft and moll arbitrary ad
of fovercignty, that one nation can exer-
cife over another. The Romans hardly
ever proceeded to thlo extremity even over
a conquered nation, till its frequent re-
volts and infurrcaions had made them
deem it incorrigible. The very idea of
it, implies a mod total abjea and llavllh de-
pendency in the interior ftate. Recolle£l that
the Americans are men of like paffions with
ourfelves, and think how dec[)ly this treat-
ment mufh ahfea tliem. They have the
fame veneration for their charters, that we
have for our Magna Charta, and they
ought in reafoii to have greater. They

[ 26 ]

m
iii.

1/ ^'

arc the titl^ deeds to all their rights both
puhlic and private. What ? my Lords,
nuifl: thcTc rights never acquire a:iy legal
aflurance and flability ? Can they derive no
force from" the peaceable pofli'eilion of near
two hundred years ? And muil the funda-
mental conllitutlon of a powerful ftate, be
for ever fubjecl to as capricious alterations
as you may thifnk fit to make, in the char-
ters of a little mercantile company or the
corporation of a borough ? This will un-
doubtedly furnlfh matter for a more per-
nicious dcb;ite than has yet been moved.
Every otlier colony will make the cafe its
own. Tliey will complain that their
rights can never be afcerti'Ined ; that every

unz

hcl

onjun-r

to tl

lem tie

;pen

poa

our arbitrary will ; and may think it better
to run anvhazard, than to fubmit to thcvio-

)f th(

>th

ence or their mother country, ni a mat-
ter in which they can fee neither modera-

tion nor eiK

But

[ 27 ]

But let us coolly enquire, what is the
realbii of this unheard of innovation.
Is it to make them peaceable ? My LorJs,
it will make them rnad. Will they bz
hotter governed if wc introduce this
change ? Will they he more our friends ?
The Icaft that fueh a mcafurc can do, is
to make them hate us. And would to
God, my Lords, we had governed our-
felves with us much oeconumy, integrity
and prudence as they have done. Let
them continue to enjoy the liberty our
fathers jrave them. Cave them, did I

fay ? They are coheirs of liberty with our-
felves ; and tb'iir portion of the inlicritance
has been much better looked after than
ours. Suffer them to enjoy a little longer
that fhort period of public intc2,nty
and domeftic happlnefs, wljich feems to
be the portion allotted by Providence to
young rifing flates. Indead of hoping that
their conftitution may receive improve-
ment from our Iklll in government, the

E 2 ""i'">i^

But

[ 23 J

■il

iir ^

mod ufeful wl(h I can form in their fa-
vour is, that heaven may long prefcrve
them from our vices and our politicks.

Let mc add farther, that to make any
changes in their government, without their
conicnt, would be to tranfgrefs the wifeft
rules of policy, and to wound ourmoft im-
portant interefts. As they increafe in num-
bers and in riches, our comparative
{Irength mufl lelien. In another age,
when our power has begun to lofe fomc-
thing of its fuperlority, we (houKl be
happy if we could fupport our autho-
rity l)y mutual goodwill and the habit
of commanding ; but chiefly by thofc ori-
ginal eftablilhrnents, which time and pub-
lic honour might have rendered inviolable.
Our pofterity will then have reafon to la-
ment that they cannot avail thcmfelves of
thofe trcafurrs of public fii.jp.dfhip and
conlidence which our fathers had wifely
hoarded up, and we are throwing away.
*Tis hard, 'ti, cruel, bcfides all our debts

and

.Ji

..^•^

r 29 ]

and taxes, and thofe enormous cxpences
which are multiplying upon us every year,
to load our unhappy fons with the hatred
and curfcs of North America. Indeed, my
Lords, we are treating pollcrity very fcur-
vily. We have mortgaged all the lands ; we
have cut djwn all tlie oaks ; we are now
trampling down the fences, rooting up
the fecdlinps and fam piers, and rulnlnjr
all the refources of another age. We fliall
fend the ncxtgencration into t!ic world, like
the wretched heir of a worthlcfs father,
without money, credit or friends ; with a
flrippcd, incumbered, and perhaps unte-
nanted eflate.

Having fpoke fo largely agninfl. the prin-
ciple of the hill, it is hardly ncceflary to
enter into tlie merits of it. I (liall only ob-
ferve, tiiat even if we had the conknt of
the people to alter their gover.nmcnt, it
would he UMwlic to make liich alterations
as tliefe. To give the appointment of the

governor

Iff*i*^>¥«'>^ "^^-^

ill

frwP ■

[ 30 ]

governor and council to the crown, and the
diipofal of all places, even of the judges,
and witii a power of removing them, to tlie
governor, is evidently calculated with a
view to form a flrong party in our flivour.
This I know has heen done in other colo-
nics ; hut flill this is opening a fource of
perpetual difcord, where it is our interell:
always to agree. If we mean any thing
by this eflablifhment, it is to fupport the
governor and the council againtl: the peo-
ple i. e. to quarrel with our friends, that
we may pleafe their Icrvants. This fchemc
of governing them by a party is not wifely
imagined, it is much too premature, and,
at all events, mull turn to our difadvantage.
If it fails, it will only make us contempti-
ble ; if it fucceeds, it will make vs odious.
It is our intercft to take very Httle part in
their domeflic adminiftration of govern-
ment, hut purely to watch over tliem for
their goad. We never gained fo much by
Koith America as when we let them go-
vern

* )

[

* I '

vcrn themfelves, and were content to trade
with them and to prote«Slthem. One would
think, my Lords, there was fome (latute
law, prohibituig us,, under the feverefl
pcnaUies, to profit by experience.

My Lords, I have ventured to lay my
thoughts before you, on the greatefl na-
tional concern that ever came under vour
deliberation, with as much honefty as you
will meet with from abler men, and with
a niehuicholy alTurance, that not a word of
it will be regarded. And yet, my Lords,
with your permiffion, I will wafte one fhort
ariiiiment more un the fame cau '•, one that
1 own I am fond of, and which contains in
it, what, 1 think, muft afled: every ge-
nerous mind. My Lords, I look upon
North America as the only great nurfery of
freemen now left upon the face of the earth.
\W have feen the liberties of Poland and
Sweden fwcpt away, in the courfe of one
year, by treachery and ufurpation. The

tliree

free towns in Germany are like fo many
dying fparks, that go out one after ano-
ther ; and which mull all be loon cxtin-
guifhed under the defl:ru(5live greatnefs of
their neii;:h hours. Holland is little more
than a great trading company, with luxu-
rious manners, and an exhaufted revenue ;
with little ftrength and with lefs fpirit.
Switzerland alone is free and happy within
the narrow inclofure of its rocks and vallies.
As for the ftate of this country, my Lords,
I can only refer m.yfelf to your own lecret
thoLiglits. I am difpoled to think and
hope the bed of Public Liberty. Were I to
defcribe her according to my own ideas at
prefent. I (hould fay that ihe has a fickly
countenance, but I truft ilie has a llrong
conftitution.

But whatever may be our future htc, tlie
greateft glory that attends this country, a
greater than any other nation ever acquired,

'It

[ 33 ]

is to have formed and nnrfed up to fuch a
ftate of happiiiefs, thofe colonies whom we
are now fo ez^-^ to butcher. We ought
to cherifli them as the immortal monu-
ments of our public juftice and wifdom ; as
the heirs of our better days, of our old arts
and manners, and of our expiring national
virtues. What work of art, or power, or
public utility has ever equalled the glory
of having peopled a continent without
guilt or bloodihed, with a multitude of free
and happy common-wealths -, to have given
them the beft arts of life and government ;
and to have fuffered them under the {belter
of our authority, to acquire in peace the
Ikill to ufe them. In comparifon of this,
the p.licy of governing by influence, and
cv^n nie pride of war and vidory are diflio-
re/ -'xks and poor contemptible pageantry.

We fcem not to be fenfible of the high and
important truft which providence has com-
mitted to our charge. The mod precious re-
mains of civU liberty, that the world can

F now

[ 34 1

now boaft of, are lodged li> our hands ;
and God forbid that we fliould violate fb
facrcd a depolit. By enflaviiig your colo-
nies, you net only ruin the peace, the
commerce, and the fortunes of both coun-
tries; but you extingujfh the faireft hopes,
ihut up the lait afyluni of mankind. I
think, my Lcids, w*"hout being weakly
fuperftitious, that a gc. nan may hope
that heaven will take part againll the exe-
cution of a plan w^liich fcems big, not only
with mifchief, but impiety.

Let us be content with the fpoHs and the
deftrudion of the eafl:. If your Lordlhips
can fee no impropriety in it, let the plun-
derer and the oppreflbr ftill go free. But
let not the love of liberty be the only crime
you think worthy of punifhment. I fear
we lliall foon make it a part of our natuval
character, to ruin every tiling that has the
misfortune to depend upon us.

1*1 1

[ 35 ]

No nation has ever before contrived, irt,
(b fhort a fpace of time, without any war
or public calamity (unlets unwife meafures
may be fo called) to deftroy fuch ample
refources of commerce, wealth and power,
as of late were ours, and which, if they
had been rightly improved, might have
raifed us to a ftate of more honourable and
more permanent greatnefs than the world
has yet feen.

Let me remind the noble Lords in admi-
nlftration, that before the ftamp aft, they
had power fufficlcnt to anfwer all the juft
ends of government, and they were all
compleatly anfwered. If that Is the power
they want, though we have loft much of it
at prefcnt, a few kind words would recover
it all.

But if the tendency of this bill Is, as I
own it appears to mc, to acquire a power of
governing them by influence and corrup-
tion ; in the firfl place, my Lords, tiiis

^'5

[ 36 1

is not true government, but a fophifticatecl
kind, which counterfeits the appearance,
but without the Ipirit or virtue of the true :
and then, as it tends to debafe their fpiiits
and corrupt their nianners, to deftroy all
that is great and refpeftable in fo confider-
able a part of the human ipecies, and by
degrees to gather them together with the
rell of the world, under the yoke of uni-
verfal flavery ; I think, for the(e reafon^, it
is the duty of every wife man, of every ho-
neftman, andof every Engl ifhman, by all
lawful means, to oppofe it. ■

',i?fr*C"^

.',;o

I s.

.•«-

ii't