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CANADA i LETTER T O T H E RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD CAMDEN, O N T H E 6II.L FOR RESTRAINING THE TRADE AND FISHERY OF THE FOUR PROVINCES OF NEW ENGLAND. LONDON: FRINTED FOR T. CADELL, IN THE STRAND. MDCCLXXV. ^ LETTER, &c* f My LoRDj ASenfe of your diftinguiflied abilities, admiration at your uncommon elo- quence, and refpedl for the high rank which you once held in the moft liberal of profef- lions, ferved only to increafe the furprife of your audience, when your Lordfhip fpoke to the commitment of the New England Fifhery Bill. We cannot but be apprehenfive, my Lord, that to fay the Americans now have a right of refifting, are juftificd in B refiftance, ( 2 ) rcfiftance, and that they muft refift or be enflaved, appears to give a fandion to re- bellion ; and to add weight to their coun- fels, who have endeavoured to lead our American fubjeQs from tumult and difo- bedience, to open and avowed refiflance. AfTertions, which proceeding from men neither known nor efteemed are rejected as enthufiaftic and feditious, when clothed with your high authority, acquire a dupli- cated power of mifchief ; and we have caufe to fear, for the influence which your Lordfhip's fpeech will have upon the minds jf the Americans, already fufficiently in- flamed by the artifice and fedition of men of dark and dangerous defigns. It was a very wife law of Solon, which condemned him to infamy, who remained neuter and indifferent in the troubles of his country ; for he could have little claim to the efleem of his fellow-citizens, who, Tecure in his own private interefts, could be ( 3 ) be infenfible to the calamities of the public. My regard for the duty which every citi- zen owes to his country, and my ruling wifli that every event may be fortunate and happy to Great Britain, are the only mo- tives capable of fupporting me in the avowal of opinions contradidtory to your Lordfhip ; when I cannot but feel how very unequal my powers are to fuch a conteft. — But truth requires no ornament, and falfehood is incapable of any difguife that will efcape detection. ich led of im ! be As the dodrine of a right of refiftance to government, which you quoted from Mr. Locke, and applied to the prefent cafe of the Americans, is of a ge eral nature; and, if it refers to the prefent queftion, mull equally refer to every meafure which we may adopt, to preferve entire the Britifh empire, whercfoever extended ; per- mit me to premife a few words on that fubjed, before I enter into thofc parts of B 2 the ( 4 ) the fpecch which confine thcmfelvcs to the matter in queilion. A power of tyranny, without any right of refiftance in the oppreffcd objeds of that tyranny, was never fupported by any conx- petent argument. The right of refiftance in cafes wherein the fubjed will probably be benefited by the event, as well as jufti- fied by the caufe, is natural and common to all mankind, under whatever form of government they may be placed. When, therefore, political writers talk of a fupreme power, they do not mean a power which abfolutely precludes refiftance, but a power which cannot be refifled without a fubver- fion of government, a renunciation of civil rights, and a recurrence to the natural rights of mankind. The word " fupreme*' has been faid to be relative, not abfolute : yet as the fub- jeds have transferred into the hands of the ftatc ( 5 ) ftate all the rights which they could tranf- fer, the rights of nature being unalienable, the fupreme power of the Britifli, is de jure of the fame authority, as that of the Per- fian empire ; — that is, competent to every objedt of legiflation and government, and controlable only by the natural rights of mankind. There is no right of tyranny in Perfia, any more than in Britain; and if we have been able to refift its exertion, it is becaufe we have had the means and fpirit of refiftance. > ,fc I I •1 It behoves thofe, who contemplate the fubverfion of the government under which they live, to confider, not only the juftice of their caufe, but the probability of its execution : for, however the fuccefsful op- pofition of a nation to a bigotted tyrant, be- comes a happy revolution; yet a partial and unfuccefsful refiftance to government is af beft an unfortunate rebellion. The r ( 6 ) The Tf ry able commentator on the laws of England obferves, that Mr. Locke, like moft other theorifls, carries his reafoning too far ; and makes too light of, what de- ferve the matureft confideration, the caufes of refiftance to government. Many of the errors, which have crept into this fubje^fit, have been occafioned by a confufion of natural rights with civil rights, and of in- dependence with liberty : for, if a citizen can once do what the laws forbid, he will no longer poflefs liberty ; becaufe all his fellow-fubjedls will have the fame power. V \ i i I I I fhould pay little refpe£t, to the autho- rity of any man, or of any precedent, againft liberty, or in favor of anarchy. But, if the names of political writers muft have their weight, fufFcr me to refer your Lordfhip to the opinion of Algernoon Sid- ney ; a man, whofe enthufiafm never led him to countenaace even the femblance of tyranny ; and who, as much as any one, prepared ( 7 ) prepared the way to the Revolution. In his " Difcourfes concerning Government," which were wrote in the fame caufe, and againft the fame opponent with Locke, he repeatedly and exprefsly recognifes the fu- premacy of this power. )f *• The difFerence,'* fays he, " between ** good and ill governments, is not that *• thofe of one fort have an arbitrary power, " which the others have not, but that thofe ** which are well conftituted, place it fo as " it may be moft beneficial to the people.'* The art of polity, my Lord, has been chiefly, and almoft fingly, dircdted to the veftment of this power in proper and fafe hands; and intrufting it to thofe, whofe knowledge, fituation, and intereft might induce them, to exercife it for honcft ends, and by wife means : ** for,'* fays Sidney, " the difFerence, between the befl govern- ** ment and the worft, does wholly depend (< upon I!:j: ( 8 ) " Upon a right or wrong exercife of this •* power.'* It has been the wifdom of the Britifh conftitution, to temper this power, by com- mitting the blended exercife of it, to the three chief bodies, which compofe the ftate. In them therefore refts the united authority of the Britifli empire ; and whoever, as a fubje£t, continues to claim the benefit and proteiStion of that empire, muft continue to merit fuch benefit and protedtion, by obedience to the conftitutional authority thereof. Your Lordfliip knows all this much better than me ; wherefore I am the' more unhappy, in not being able to con- cur in your juftification of America's re- fiftance : but had I contented myfelf with merely contradiding your aflertion, and had I omitted to offer thofe reafons, which compel me to differ from fo refpedable 8 authority. lis ( 9 ) authority, it might have appeared foolifh and afTumiiig. — How far the foregoing principles authorife the conduct of Ame- Tica, will appear in the fubfequent parts of this letter. When indeed the benefits of civil polity are converted into evils, and government becomes tyranny, nature has pointed out to mankind their remedy, and made rehftance to oppreilion a natural defence. It is a right given by the laws of nature, and not by the ordinances of any (late, or age ; for whoever attacks the government of his country, precludes himfelf from its benefit and protection. And, whatever may be the cafe with America, I am perfuaded that you cannot mean to point out this as a proper time for us, the home-born fubjeds, to appeal, from the mod perfect conftitu- tion that ever exifted, and from the mildeft government upon earth, to independence C and ity, ( 10 ) and anarchy, to the fword and the natural rights of mankind. Your Lordfhip ftated the Bill for reftrain- ing the New England Fifhery to be cruel, Impradicable, and unneceflary. It is cruel, becaufe it will have too great an efFeft;— it is impradicable, becaufe it will have no efFc£l at all ;— it is unneceflary, becaufe the Earl of Chatham propofed another Bill, which has not been adopted. I If I was to follow your Lordfliip over your own ground, I fhould plead its humanity, becaufe it will have a good eff'ed:; its prac- ticability, becaufe it is to be effeduated by the navy ; and its neceffity, or rather pro- priety, becaufe it is the heft meafure that has occurred, to check the feditious pracr> tices of a fadion in New England. But let us iirfl examine the charge of cruelty — The provinces of New England have lalural ftrain- : cruel, s cruel, ea:;— ave no ufe the T Bill, your anity, prac- ted by r pro- e that prac-^ » * ( n ) have attempted to withdraw their obedience from that ftate, which, having fettled and proteded them, has exercifed authority over them, with a mildnefs and benevo- lence unequalled in the annals of hiflory. And what has Britain done? She denies unto thofe, who continue to avow refift- ance, the benefits of that fifhery, which her fleets have acquired, defended, and fe- cured ; the advantages whereof fhe had held out to them, in preference to her own bome-born fubjedts : a meafure, which as it is calculated to draw them back to their duty, fo at their return to obedience its operation ceafes. But, in the mean time, common prudence forbids to fufFer them to grow ftrong from her refources, who al- ready feem willing to bid defiance to her authority. ;e of [gland have An efFed. however of this ad, according to your Lordfhip, will be the ftarving a confiderable part of the four provinces of C 2 New ( « ) New England, Thus it is, that you hold out to us their power of refiftance, becaufe their internal refources fupply them with every neceflary and conveniency; and yet we arc forbid the mildeft exertion of our authority, leaft they perifti for lack of food. If, my Lord, their daily exiftence doth thus depend on the continuance of our bounty, their obligations to us are doubly increafed ; and they never could have dared to fet up claims of independence, unlefs they had been counfelled from hence bow far they might go. 1. Did the adl indeed carry with it the mi* feries of want, among thofe who continue to refift and rebel againft lawful authority, it might be juftified by precedents from every page of hiftory. The great Henry of France, the only inftance I can recolledt, fupplied with food an obftinate and rebel- lious fadlion, which feemed determined to pcriih within the walls of Paris, rather than fwbmjt m 'ou hold becaufe m with and yet of our of food. )th thus bounty, creafed; y fet up ley had ar they the mi- xitinue hority, from Henry colledti rebel- led to erthan fubmit n *Y { >3 ) fubmit to his government. And if man- kind have concurred in paying homage to the benevolence which dictated the a^iioui political writers have blamed a meafure, which continued the calamities of a civil war, and gave ftrength to the miferies of his country ; when he might have ended them, by the death of a few obdurate re- bels. But we are not obliged, like that good king, to balance between benevolence and policy. It is true, that the colonies of New England have acquired ftrength and riches thro* the extenfion of this fifliery to them ; but it is no lefs true that their fubfiftence has not depended upon it. By a cuftom and policy of their country, adopted for the encouragement of the fifhery, the New- foundland fait fifh has fupplicd the chief part of their Saturday's dinner ; and in very few families has gone further: in thofe fettled fifty or fixty miles back, it has not $ gone 'ii ( H ) gone fo far. Their frefh filli they have always caught upon their own coaft ; they raife their own Indian corn, feed their own pork, and find among themfelves the means of fupplyihg the mere neceflarics of Mfe. But to thofe neceffaries of life they will now be teftrained ; nor, until from a fenle of their lofs, when we withdraw our fupport, they are reclaimed to their duty, will they be able to make returns for thofe luxuries, which they import from Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the Weft-Indies, by means of that fifhery, which we have re- fumed for the benefit of our fubjeds at home, and for the immediate advantage of our own commerce. It has been the endeavour of thofe who wifh to make us defpair of our own virtue, bravery, and ftrength, to reprefeht us in the hopelefs and exhaufted ftate of the lower empire ; like thofe unworthy defcen- dants of ancient Rome, debilitated by vices, enervated '■**» ( 15 ) enervated by luxury, and deprefled by that mod infupportable of burdens, our own degeneracy ; while they aibribe to the Ame- ricans all the force and vigour of maturity, with all the untainted virtue and purity of infancy. I But, my Lord, when the laft war carried our wealth to America, it carried our luxu- ries with it ; and America reached that pe- riod in a few years, and by one event, which we are arrived at in the courfe of nature. Befides, at their firft fettlement, they were not a rude, but a civilifed peo- ple; and their continued communication with Europe, has made them partakers in the evils as well as benefits of civil refine- ment. Luxury, which begins as a con- vcniency, foon grows into a fecond necef- fity ; and though the fine arts have not ac- companied it in its tranfatlantic progrefs, it has not had lefs effed in precluding their return to rude and unciviiifed fimplicity. When, 1 .1 ( 16 ) When therefore they find the enjoyment of this fifhery, and of the luxuries derived from it, confined to thofe who recognife our authority, they will then have to deter- mine their choice in favor of mere necef- faries, independence, and anarchy, or of the conveniences of life, and the bleflings of good order. i Your Lordftiip ftated the Bill to be cruel, not only on account of the wretched alter- native to which it will reduce our fubjedts, of fubmitting to our authority, or fufFering by their obftinacy ; but alfo becaufe it is unjuft and unproportioned to their crime. By a very ftiort narrative of plain fa I ( 82 ) the interpofition of parliament necefTary. And whoever confiders the inferiority of the judicial bodies of a new fettled and de- pendent province, compared to thofe of the miftrefs of a mighty empire, and the little inducement that the crown can ever have to exercife this power, except for the be- nefit of the people, will fee the expediency of this regulation. The fame attention to the happinefs of his fubjedls, which made the independency of our judgment-feat the firft a£t of his reign, will influence our fo- vereign, to recommend the extenfion of the fame benefit, to all the other parts of the empire, whenever their peculiar circum- ftances fhall render it beneficial to them. m^ The fecond ad, my Lord, fufpends the trade of a port, in which the commerce of our fubjeds cannot be fafely carried on, until it fhall appear that the goods of Bri* tifh merchants may be fafe there ; and un- til fatisfadion fhall be made to :he Eafl- India ( 23 ) India company, for the lofs which it fuf- tained. — The third adt, in cafes of indidl- ments or profecutions againft officers of the crown, for things done in difcharge of their duty, and in obedience to adls of parliament, where it fhall be made to appear that an indifferent trial cannot be had, permits the governor, with the advice of the council, to remove the trial of it to another colony, or to an Englifh county; the extraordinary expence whereof is to be defrayed by the crown. For it were a manifeft injuftice, and utterly abhorrent to the fpirit of our crimi- nal law, that people fliould be parties and juries in the fame caufe : and whatever reafon your Lordfliip may have to diflruft an Englifh jury, we have feen feveral fo- reign caufes lately tried at Guildhall, which afford evident proofs of their impartiality. For my own part, my Lord, I can fee neither injuftice nor tyranny in thefe mea- fures. To punifh tumult and fedition, by 8 correding ■!'i : 'fill:: ( H ) corredlng the fources from whence they flow, and to convert their offences and evils into their own good, what is it but to en- deavour, in the trueft fpirit of polity and benevolence, to melt down their unwilling hearts with benefits ? Have they offended ! She vindicates her injured authority by a punifhment, which an hour's real repentance will do away; and fhews by her willing- nefs to forgive injuries, that the injury Jid not originate with her ; adopting the bene- volent fentiment of the Roman poet, — " Fro " peccato magno pauhun fupplicii fatU eft " patriP , .. ' , . •;l!l 1 ■ > I need not trouble your Lordfhip with what has happened fince ; the fads are fo recent that we all remember them. The refl of the province, and the other colonies of New England, have made themfelves parties to the contefl ; and have taken fome fteps little fhort of adtual rebellion. It is true, that the fpirit of infatuation and error has m ( 25 ) has not mifled the whole province ; thcfe has been a party formed in fupport of go- vernment and order ; and, as we have rea- fon to believe, acquiring daily ftrength. This affociation was formed by brigadier Ruggles, a man who, having commanded iiv the laft war the three regiments of MafTa- chufett's Bay, when on the peace his country no longer wanted his fervices, retired like Cincinnatus to the cultivation of his own farm ; receiving no penfion for that fup- port of government, which he thought it the duty of every fubjedt to afford. He is a man, my Lord> who reminds us of the virtues of ancient patriotifm, as much as yourLordfhip renews the powers of ancient eloquence. And furely you do not cen- fure them merely becaufe they have united in fupport of government : whether they are governor Hutchinfon's juftices or no, is indifferent to the queflion, fmce they fland forth the friends of their country. But your aiTertion in this inflance admits of a £ very |! ''1 !ii;,l! ['.[ ,' { 26 ) very fingular contradidion ; for, fo far from Jhaving appointed fix juftices, governor Hutchinfon never made even one at Marflx*- field, the town where you mention the aflbciation to have been formed. Having premifed thus much, let us now, my Lord, confider what is the mighty ven- geance that the Britifh eagle demands. " She does not bid the thunder-bearer (hooty *' Nor tell tales of them to high judging Jove." She carries not an ofFenfive war into their country, nor even exerts the common right of reprifals ; but only witholds in part the continuance of her bounty, until her wifhes are accomplifhed, in their return to obedi- ence and pardon,— I beg leave next to turn your Lordihip'a attention to the pradicability of this mea- fure ; and on this, I need give you very little trouble. The fame naval eftabliih- menti which has hitherto protected them in I I from ernor larfh- 1 the mow, ^ ven- [s. (hoot, Jove. » 3 their right rt the ifhes hedi- Ifhip'a mea- very ibli£h- them in ( 27 ) in the enjoyment of this fifhery, will effec- tually ejfclude them from it : and therefore, we are the more happy to hear your Lord- ihip confirm, what the experience of two centuries has taught us, that by fea we are irrefiflible ; for to our navy is committed the execution of this adt. Troops may be ncceffary in turbulent times, to fecure the feats of government j and fo are they now applied. But to march them through the wilds of America, was an idea totally new, when your Lordfhip offered it to the houfe : and it may be true, that an attempt to ftorm the woods and lakes of America, in de- fiance of the many fpecies of enemies which we may meet there, would be an in- adequate meafure; though, when the lafl war called upon us to defend our American fubjedls, the bravery of our troops fhewed it to be pradicable. It is not »nough for your Lordfhip to fay, that the Americans can return to the na- E 2 tural m ill i m ,"■1 Ht: ( 88 ) tural produce of their own lands, that they can relinquifti the luxuries and convenien- cies of life, and forego the benefits of trade and commerce. I am free to fay, that I do pot believe they can ; but the queftion is, whether they will : and, if probability may be an carneft of the event, I will venture to affirm that they will not. What, my Lord, when there has been an endeavour to flicw, that they will be deprived of the ne- ccflfaries of life, if denied the participation p£ our fifliery, can we be perfuaded that they will be able, fo immediately, to create among themfelves the comforts and conve-! niences of it ? Or that they will obflinately preclude themfelves from every thing, for •which it is worth while to live, in order to diminifh one of our fources of wealth ? — The bitter fpiri^ of Moloch was the only one, to whom the poet could afcribe a counfel of this nature, " which, if not victory, were ^* yet revenge.^' Whatever f ( 29 ) Whatever want of gratitude or of pru- dence fome of them may have fhewn, I cannot believe them capable of this excefs of madnefs and folly. For if, in confe- quence of their own inveteracy, they Ihould abandon the real profits, which in the courfe of trade they have derived from their fifli, lumber, potafh, corn, tobacco, rice, fugar, ;ind indigo, to depend on their own inter- nal refources, it would operate not only to the prejudice, but to the ruin of America : it would reduce her from that degree of wealth and ftrength, which under our pro- tection and favour fhe has acquired, to a fituation incapable of exciting jealoufy in WS, or envy in the reft of mankind. But however fanguine their hopes or expeda- tions may be, they muft have many ferious reflexions, whether a precarious and dubi- ous independency be equivalent to the price ^t which they muft purchafe it ; and whe- ther it were not better to return to the good old .;W ■ 'I ( 3° ) old path, in which they have trod fo long, and found it the way of pleafantnefs. r| al '(!,':: ! The novehy of their fettlements which, to ufe the words of the Pennfylvanian far- mer, are " thinly fcattered over an im- " I 2nfe region," and their inability to de- fend themfelves by fea, will make them, for a century at leaft, incapable of exift- ing, except under the protection of fome powerful naval ftate. For this neceflary defence and fecurity, obedience and contri- butions will probably be required: while they can perfu^de any ftate to prote£l and defend them, without receiving contribu- tions in return, they will a£t very wifely on their part ; but if, unable to obtain this gratuitous protedion,they purchafe it at the price of fubmiflion and reimburfements, they will alfo adt wifely. If perverfenefs and difobedience ihould ever lead us to return injuries for inju- ? ries. 4 ries. ( 3' ) ries, the fevereft meafure which we could adopt, would be to declare them inde- pendent of, and unconneded with us, and to abandon them a prey to internal fadiona and external invafions. On our part, per- haps it might be faid, that we fhould fufFer little real lofs by fuch a meafure ; as we ought to regard our acquifitions there in the fame light in which our merchants view their American debts, — nominally great, but really not worth the trouble of colledling. Yet, perhaps, how ever full the meafure of their injuries might be, fome traces of our old aifedion would remain* to prevent us from leaving them, perhaps under fome future Alva, to experience the difference between fubjedion to a modu- lated and to an abfolute government ; when in the bitternefs of their afflidion they might hear, " the Englifh chaftifed you '* with whips, but we will chaftife you ** with fcorpions/' Whenever their prefent ftate of demen- tatioa (liall allow them a few hours of calm . . rcfledlon, I If i! .. i 3« ) refle&ioii, they muft forefee this ; and feaf Tvill operate where gratitude has failed in keeping them united to us : it will reft with us to determine, whether this union (hall be continued on our terms or on theirs^ And, my Lord, we muft be cruel, only to be kind : neither juftice nor mercy forbid the exercife of this power, while it is directed to our mutual good. We have received empire of our fathers ; let us not be fo fu- pine, as like faithlefs guardians to yield it up, fooner than take the pains of tranf-^ mitting it to pofterity. — Athens and Rome are now no more ; and fuch is the condition of humanity, that whatever is human muft perifh. The faireft feats of fcience, the nobleft monuments of art, have mouldered under the hand of time, and left nothing but a melancholy ruin to mark their fituation. When the fatal revolution is completed, a period muft be put to the grandeur of Britain; and that <( led in I with i fhall theirs^ jT tobe )id the ireded jceivcd fofu- ^ield it tranf- ; and that Ifaireil tnts of id of icholy ;n the muft and that .1 ( 33 ) that empire, which is unconfined by fpacc, muft be circumfcribed by time. But, till then, my Lord, he merits beft of his coun- try, who, adopting the expiring wifti of father Paul, does mofl to procrailinate the period of declenfion, and attempts to ex- tend to ages the profperity of the empire. It was a maxim of the Romans, never todefpairof the commonwealth ; — a maxim that fupported them in the greateft exigen- cies, and rendered the event fortunate : and I truft affairs are not yet fo defperate, but, while we remain true to ourfelves, an union of Englifhmen will prevail againft Ameri- can intrigues on either fide of the Atlantic. If we have fufFered by our own dilTen- (ions, concord will foon do away the mif- chief, and leave us to adopt the Roman arts of empire ; — " to fix the terms of their ** relation to us, to protect the dutiful, to ** fubdue the rebellious." F Wc { 34 ) We wifli not that their impofts fhould lie like that heavy weight, which among us boweth down the neck of the poor. We arc content that thofe vidlories, which have fecured to them their property, fhould yield to us an heavy debt and duplicated taxes. But, my Lord, while we are kind to America, we fliould alfo be juft to our- felves ; and not draw all the fupplies of their defence and government, from the fweat and labour of our home-born fub- jedts. It were an hard refledlion for tha inhabitants of this ifland, that they are alone to fupport all the burdens of that empire, which either their valour has con- quered or their wifdom extended. To be a Roman citizen, inckded an exemption from every tax, and the privilege of tyran- nifing in every province of the known world ; and at a great price obtained they this freedom. Friends as we have ever been to civil liberty, we afk not that ; we only A lould nong poor, vhich hould icated I kind 3 cur- ies of n the I fub- br the jy are f that 8 con- To be nption tyran- known jd they e ever at; we only i ( 35 ) only demand, that every part of the empire may be fubje<5t to the fame condition. For it is againft every principle of our conftitution to enlarge the fpherc of the executive power beyond that of the legi- flative. We caniuDt but fee infinite danger to our liberties, in the cxtenfion of the au- thority of the crown to any part of the empire, where the parliament does not ac- company it. My Lord, this is no vifion- ary apprchenfion : Dr. Eranklin, in his ex- amination before the houfe of commons in 1766, gave it as his opinion, that the colo- nies can grant the King money againft the advice and will of parliament. The natural rights, which we receive from our Creator, we hold by a title com- mon to all mankind. But thofe civil rights, the peculiar blefTmgs whereof make us the envy and admiration of Europe, and that liberty, in defence wherepf Qur fa- F 2 ther« •#Hi "".•I' ll' "■ !: t Ml ■ it- 11 ( 36 ) thcrs have fo often bled, are derived from the parliament alone; and by that body only can be prelervcd. To thofe there- fore, who love their country, it muft be a matter of the deepeft concern, to fee men affeding to defpife the conftitution handed down to us by our fathers, and attempting to weaken, diminilh, and confine the jurif- didlion of that body, on the prefervation of whofe privileges our civil liberties depend. For if this balancing power is once ren- dered light and inefFedual, it will be in- diflFerent to us, whether the royal or demo-» cratic fcale preponderates : the confequence will be tyranny, either immediate or through the medium of anarchy. We know not what the defire of novelty and the necelTity of retrieving dcfperate affairs may incite fome men to : but this we know, that if the authority of parliament is once broken, it is not tumult, and riot, and uproar, — it is not uncontrolled licence that will avail to fecure our liberties. — Had * 5 the aawpw^a— IPWP—wwi { 37 ) the Cardinal de Retz fucceeded in his un- wearied efforts to produce fuch a medi- ating power between the authority of the crown and the licence of the people, the French had at this hour been free. — My Lord, he failed, — and they are flaves. This example will apply very ftrongly to the matter in queftion, when we confider the caufes of his failure. The body which he attempted to ere^ into this medium, was the parliament of Paris ; which parlia- ment had the power of verifying or giving authority to edids and taxes. It had mod of the properties of a Britifh parliament, but it moved in a fmaller fphere : and while the executive power extended over the whole French empire, it was confined to the narrow diftridt of Paris. There were other parliaments for other diftrids ; and whatever fecurity they might have afforded to the liberties of France, had they been united in one body, yet fmgle and divided they ( 38 ) they had a mod unequal conteft with the crown. I I The events of empires have happened for examples ; they are written Tor our admonition, and happy fhall we be, if vr6 grow wife by the misfortunes of others. We fhould not forget, my Lord, that when Caefar affedled the tyranny of Rome, " his ** firft ftep was, by means of the people, *' to break the power and authority of the ** fenate ; being aware," continues Lord Bacon, " that fo long as that remained *' entire, there was no climbing to immode- " rate and unlawful fovereignty.'* The evidence of hiftory tells us, that he fuc- ceeded in his attempt ; that he deftroyed the fenatorial power, and thereby not only made them flaves, but confirmed them irre- trievably fo. Even at his death, Rome proved incapable of liberty ; for the re- fpe£t and authority of the fenate was no more. — Having ( 39 ) Having ftated the moderation and prac- ticability of this meafure, and endeavoured to fhew the equity of our fettlements con- tributing to their own defence and pro- tedion, and the danger to the liberties of the empire in their emancipation from the jurifdidion of parliament, I find occafion to add very little on the neceffity, or rather propriety, of the Bill in contemplation. But, my Lord, I cannot omit obferving, that the third divifion of your fubjed fully explains to us why this meafure, which bears on the face of it the charaders of humanity and propriety, is cruel and tyrannical, declara- tory of war againft our American fubjeds, and a juftilication of America's refiftance; and how their virtue, fupported by the pa- trons of liberty here, will fruftrate its exe- cution. — The Bill is unnecefTary and to be rejedcd ; for a Bill, which the Earl of Chat- ham lately offered to the houfe, was re- jeded as inexpedient and unnecefTary. I will I I M ' \ m.: ( 40 ) I will not trouble your Lordfliip with any obfervations on the merits or demerits of the Bill which you referred to. — Peace be to its manes ! — The policy of the laft war, which expended fifty millions in the con- queft of America in Germany, has been re- newed in the late attempt to conquer the minifter in America. But the eyes of Eng- lifhmen are now opened ; they fee, my Lord, that it is now high time, that the rights of Great Britain fhould be vindi- cated ; and we hope and truft, that they fhall yet be completely vindicated. Your Lordfliip is therefore right, in pre- mifing the unpopularity of the caufe, which oppofes this Bill ; for the annals of our nation do not afford an inftance, wherein oppofition has been fo unpopular. From the nature of our conftitution, the preju- dices of the people incline to the fide of the minority : they naturally confider them as their friends, and as friends who have facrificedy ( 41 ) facrificed, to the interefts of their country* emoluments, honours, and power. But, my Lord, the people of England perceive^ that there are men in the prefent oppofi- tion, who would facrifice the deareft interefts of their countryi to a reftlefs and difap- pointed ambition; and that, not content with oppofing every meafure here, they endeavour to add ftrcngth to the refiftance of America, and make themfelves a party in rebellion* They, who look up with reverence to your Lordfhip as the ornament of your country, lament that fo great a name, and (6 great abilities, fhould be profaned by even the appearance of fupport to fuch a caufe : a caufe which it Is impoflible you can wholly approve; and which, if we may judge by the condud of an oppofition which appears to be defperate, and whofe meafures feem hopelefs, affords as little to exped: from G ambition ^•1 I I ( 48 ) amBition as from fame. There wis a iime when the minority rcfted their pretehfibns to power and place, on the debate and'&- cifion of fome popular queflion ; and atided by the event. If they failed, they coh- fidered their own intereft in the fujpport 6€ peace, order, and government ; and did riot attempt to raife tumult and fedition at hoirie, and fpread rebellion abroad :— they did hot endeavour to undermine the foundations of the ftate, and mark that career with blood and carnage, which was to lead them to rule by the miferies of their country. And, my Lord, fpeakmg with the plain and fingle heart of an Englifhman, when I fee thofe who have taught the Americans to refift, make it the means of minifterial opnofition ; and triumph in the futile ex- pectations of tl^eir renouncing our autho- rity ; I feel it through every vein. I can- not with fuch verfatility transfer my affec- tions ifions d£fe- con- 6rt of id riot id riot oris of blood to rule plain when r leans fterial e ex- utho- can- lafFec- tions ( 43 ) 'lions From Iriiy native country, to the rifing 'fereftirn'emipire. If it is a weaknefs ; it is a weakriers in which I glory, and of which I hope no Englifhman need be aihamed. I do not wifli to blame the Americans. —They know that they cannot fo offend, but their return to their duty will enfure them forgivenefs, and feal their pardon. There may be men of American property refident here, who are juftified in fupporting Ame- rican oppofition, againft the government in which, and under whofe protedion they refide. But, my Lord, were this reafoning carried to its furtheft extent, it would not authorife an Englifhman, whofe connec- tions, rights, and obligations are all cen- tered here, to annoy his country, and op- pofe its authority, as the means of embar- raffing the minifler. The hope of acquir- ing thofe honors in the troubles, which they defpair of in the peace of their coun- try, 8 ^ ( 44 ) try, were a poor excufe for endeayouringf like the ftrong man, to fubvert the pilI2^'• of the conftitution, in order that their ene-- mies may be buried in the ruin. » t - FINIS. t- (,k \ ■ - - l,Jr .;, .' ; .■:■ ;, . i ' •' ; -■■ ^; "?••,. « ■^ ' '• . «;?' i . ■i ■ ■ ■' ii , ■ m fl i