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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. 
 
 r 
 
 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 
 
 il 
 
 
 
I. 
 
 i' 
 
 Jt 
 
 iff 
 
 IH 
 
 ( 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. 
 
 It 
 
{ 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 
 
 .i 
 
■»■ "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 
 
 II 
 
 1 1 1 
 
 II 
 
 [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 
 
mm 
 
 ( 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 
 
 7W 
 
 ^ 
 
 ( 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 
 
\k 
 
 ( 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 
 
 If 
 
* ' 
 
 ( " ) 
 
 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 ) 
 
 t1 
 
 'Rl' ' 
 I ' 
 
 w 
 
 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 
 
 \ 
 
 
I 
 
 ( 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 
 
 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 
 

 i 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 ( 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" 
 
 1 
 
 li 
 
 [ 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. 
 
 i 
 
 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; 
 
 cy 
 
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' 
 
 I 
 
•' ■ '■ rftpr 
 
 i^ s 
 
 
 11 
 
 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 
 
 to 
 
 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 ■ ) 
 
 I 
 
[ ^3 ] 
 
 y 
 
 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 
 
 i 
 
[ 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 
 
 tl 
 
 unz 
 
 hcl 
 
 onjun-r 
 
 to tl 
 
 lem tie 
 
 ;pen 
 
 ds 
 
 u 
 
 poa 
 
 our arbitrary will ; and may think it better 
 to run anvhazard, than to fubmit to thcvio- 
 
 l 
 
 )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 
 
 o 
 
 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 
 
 II 
 
 Ik 
 
 \t 
 
 ■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 
 
 * ) 
 
[ 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 * 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, 
 
 1$ 
 
 '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. 
 
 No 
 
 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 
 
 1^ 
 
 [ 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 
 
 i 
 
 ',i?fr*C"^ 
 
 U 
 
 N 
 
 ^^ 
 
 .',;o 
 
 I s. 
 
 .•«- 
 
 ii't 
 
i 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 a