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Th to Th po of fill Or be thi sic oti fin sic or Th sh Til wi M( dil en be rlj re m ^'•*^ft^- y•.7-■rf-. m.-* •■. J «. ■ ■ I -* A-. t C, "T^tt i.j:.i-i t ^ f -sffj'/'; r A K I i ANSWER, &c. rvff TH E importance of the fubjcdt, the crifis of time in which I write, and the notoriety of your ftile and character, make it unneceffary for me to ufe a preface. ' The very title of your pamphlet is de- luiion. No man has ever faid that taxation is, in if/eif, tyranny; nor will you fay, that it may not become (6, by abufe, or by want of authority in the impofers of it. Had your title faid, " that the Britifh parli- ament is the proper and conftitutionalhoAy for taxing the Colonies," you would not have miflated the queftion. But that would not have tended to enfnare an inat- tentive reader, by a difingenuous and a falfe implication. - ' • j< . * --^ You fet out with this pofition. *« That <* the fupremc power of every community «« has «< <( /; .ij .. / I [ 6 J *• has the right of requiring from all its «« fubjedls fuch contributions as are neccff'ary ** to tht public fafety, ov public projperity." You pretend that this pofition is as old as Government, but it is evidently of mo- dern ftrudturc. This 'appears from the word requiring. Your maxim, is, not that the fupreme power has the right oi taxing, bat of requiring contributions from all ks fubje^s; and is evidently framed for. the prefent difpute, and for die identical id?a of requijiticn from the Colonies. Now diis, whether right or wrong, is certainly not an old« nor even now an eftabliChf d idea on either fide of the Atlantic. . j Further, if by the fupreme power having aright to require contribufions, you mean that it has a right to tax, you exprefs yourielf inaccurately; and if from that portion you conclude, that the Britifh par- liament has a right to tax America^ you but }u{l aiTume what you ought to prove* For the very point in debate, is, whether the Britiih parliament, though it be the fupreme power of the whole empire as to many points, is fo as to all ; and . particu- larly to ' [71 larly as to taxation* Now thU being a queilion relating to the Britifll government, it is etident> that it is not to be determined by 9 general maxim of government in al>* (IraA. It mufl be decided by xYitfwidamefi* tai principles of the Bri ti/h conikitution i by the eflabiijhed pra^ice of it ; and by the dic-^ tates of found fenfe, of natural juAice and of public convenience^ applied to the ground of that conftitution. -^i ^n \r»rj.'rrth By your general terms the reader natu*- rally fuppofes it only to be aiTerted, that the legiflature of every community has the power you fpeak of. Now this, in al>» ftradt, founds well. When we fpeak of ih< legiflature of a community, we fuppofe only om legiflature ; and where there it but one, it mufl of mcejjity have the right you fpeak of ^ otherwife no taxes at all could be raifed in that community. But then the proof arifes from this neceffity, which makes it abfurd that it (hould be otherwife. Where therefore there is not the fame necefllty, the fame abfurdity will not arife; nor the fame proof, by confe- quence, follow. Now the prefent difpute X>- ,.», ^ ISj k. u A jj> i r 8 J is, not with refpe^t to this ifland alone, which certainly has but one legiilature ; but with refped to the Britifh empire at large, in which there are many legiilatures j or mtUiy aflemblies claiming to be (o. Here is the fallacy of your pofition. From the ftate of the Britifh empire, compofed of extenfive and difpcrfed dominions, and from the nature of its government, a mul- tiplicity of legiilatures, or of aiTemblies claiming to be fo, have arifen in one em- pire. It is in forne degree a new cafe in legiilation, and muil be governed therefore more by its own circumAances, and by the genius of our peculiai conftitution, than by abflradt notions of government at large. Every colony, in fad, has two legiflatures ; one interior and provincial, viz. the colony ailembly : the other exterior and imperial, viz. the firitiih parliament. It would have been utterly abfurd, that a provincial legi- ilature diould ever have fubfifled, if it were not praSiicaliy or conflitutionally necejfary for certcin matters. It would be equally abfurd, if the imperial Icgiflature were to interpofe in fuch matters ; for if it (hould, one / ly-:^m ./ [ 9 ] one of two things muA follows cithtfi that the imperial legiUature mud in fuch matters yield to the provincial wherever they differed ; or that it mud prevail over it in points, from its own praSHcdt or conjiitutional unfttnefs for which, the pro- vincial legiilature was formed; either of which would be perfectly abfurd. Nei- ther will the unity of the empire be in danger from the provincial legiflature be- ing thus exclulive as to points. It is pcr- feftly fufficient, if the Britifli legiflature be fupreme, as to all thofe things which are eifential to Great Britain's being fub« Aantially the head of the empire ; a line not very difficult to be drawn if it were the prefent fubjeA. Neither is there any abfurdity in there being two aflfembEes, each of them fufficient, or, if you will, fupreme, as to objects perfectly didin«3: ; for this plain reafon, that, the obje(^s be- ing perfe(^ly diflind, they cannot clafh. The Colonifl thereibre, allowing that the fi^eme power or legiflature, where there is bat one, muil have the right you ipeak of I will fay, that with refped: to him B there SEii^f A there are two, and that the provincial le« giflatute is the fupreme power as to taX" ation for his Colony. And fo the contro« verfy, notwithilanding your pofition, will remain jufl where it began.. But not to have done with your maxim. It fays, that the fupreme power has a right to require fuch contributions as are necejj'ary to the public fafety and fubUc projperity. If thefe words have any mean- ing but to deceive, they muft mean, that this right of the fupreme power has li- mits, viz. that it is only a right to impoie or require fuch contributions as are necef" fary to xh is the fok judge ; that if the people can withhold obedience in any cafe they are no longer fubjeds ; that they are rebels } that they muft be compelled i that Govern* ' ment is neceflary to man, and that where obedience is not compelled. Government is at an end. You fay, in a word, that the fupreme power has limits, and that it has not limits ; that Government has a duty, which it may tranfgrefs with impunity $ and that the people have rights, which they cannot maintain without the guilt of rebellion. And all thefe contradic- tions you build upon the forry and verbal ibphifm, that the legiilature of every country is iht fupreme power, and being fupreme, cannot be controlled^ But the truth is, that it is no more than the chief power in ordinary courie % but with an eventual controll. For in extreme cafes, ' there is a controll in the hands of the whole ' people, with whom alone the fupreme power unlimited of any community can refide ; and with whom it always does r&- (ide, though in common courfe they dele- B 2 gate i-vPt- ' [ 1» 1 • gate a portion of authority fufficient fbc le^gUlation to odiers:^ but (6, as that tfaej are nol to fubvert the conftitution under which thty aft; nor to convert Govern- ment to the mifery and ruin of the people^ for whofe happinefs and profperity it was fbri»ed< Tldsjindi right of the people is Jelt and itxircifed in the moft arbitrary Go-, verhihentis, though it is not only not pro- fefled in thofe countries> but the dodtrino of paiilve obedience maintained iuid per^ haps generally believed. So ilron^ is tk'SL* ture, and (o weak is jfophiftry in extrencM cafes however, that . more Turkifh empe-» rors l>ave been flain by their fubjeds, than kin^ i^ all the fre& monarchies that have ever exiiled. But refiftance in our conili'* tution is not a tacit referve; it is an ex-^ prefs do<^ri^ of our Government in its bef^ times. It is then abfurdto fay, that the gpyeruing powers are unlimited here» for a r^ht of refinance implies a limit; If there could be no tranfgrtffion there could bie no right to relift; and a powci: that has no Jtmks, cannot tran%refs."L)i!v( ■^^i ••■^r.. '..■■^- '■■ Having / tt3] cttd to a premature tHumph OVev tile *N'' gtmienu and pritlciples of ybtif adverfi^' lies through fbrty pages, when you codm to this propbfitloiir *' that the legiflatoit «« ^ a ColoDy^is ^ly the veftf y of a larger «« pariih." This ycu aflert, bat you do hot cdndefcend to prove» or to' apply iV Let a« try fbr a motnent whether there ia^ th&'fmalleft aoalogy* The legidatares ^i the Colonies^ f&r ib yoti call them^ batd patifk veihies under them id Americiy fimilar to ours ; which bear ^he (kvat rt** lation to the provffloial legidati^e^i whic6 British veftries tear to the Britilh parlia^ ment. Now I do hot find that odr ve^ tries have other veftrie^ fubti^dinate td them in like manner. Neither do I fup^ pofe, that the provincial legiflatdres would have had fuch had they been confidered as.fimilar to Briti^ veftries. The pro-* vincial legiflatures are convened and difi folyed by the immediate a iBent. But it is equally true, that the fame may be faid of every nation under lh« fun, with refpedt to its legiflature. The grand Signior for inftance, has the legiflature of the Turkifli empire in his own perfon ; he is the virtual reprefenta* tive of his people therefore ; and his fub« je^s confequently have the blefling of re# prefentation equally with the Americans ; and m1^ ■ V!,*f 1/ T ] and thus all the ceveramsots of the wo{14 arc happilj brought to a level. . To comfort the Americans, it is your con(hnt |»ra^e to Cell them« that thuHgh they muA have lefs freedom and coafticutional privile;ge than their bre- t\ata at home, yet that the people of Gr«at Britam have little of either. Thus you exaggerate the* number of noa-eleo- torsin Britain^ and Teem to impeach the conftitution, as having been negligent of the people, in this whole bufinefs* 1 think you mlilake the drift of the condi- tution, as I ihall endeavour to (hew* But firft to touch it upon your own ground. Women and minors are a great majority of every people j yet in no conditution have thsy ever been electors. So far the Bfiti(h conditution has nothing particular to account for; a«id» as for the red, let hiftory anfwer. In our fcedal origin, the property of the date, that fell to com- moners, was for the mod part pretty equally divided into military freeholds, to which every privilege was at that time an* nexedf and particularly that of conditu- C ting ..-* [ i8 1 ting county members. Moneyed proper* ty was little known, or attended to at ' firft. As it grew, however, members for cities, towns and boroughs were, from ' time to time, added i that perfonal pro«' perty might be reprefented in fome mea- ' Aire, though not io accurately as freehold. ■ The eledtive principle therefore was gene- ral and perfedt, as property v iginally flood. If the courfe of time has altered this flate, (o as that the conftitutional ^ principle has become narrow in its opera-> tion, what foll0^ws? That fome change (hould be .mad^, in order that the confti- tutional principle (hould be reftored to its full operation. That is, that the confti- tution (hould be revived at home, not de* ftroyed at the other (ide of the Atlantic. Whereas your argument is, that becaufe it is bad here, it (hould be rendered worfe there ; and becaufe its image is fomewhat impaired in Great Britain, that there (hould not be a (hadow of it^ left in America. *^' ' Again— You tell the Americans that they are no great lofers by not having a vote for y ) :*j*i5tii2b [ 19 ] for their Britifli reprerentativesy for that thofe who have votes feldom know, or have feen the perfon whom they chufe. This is the fault of the individuals how* ever, and the faults of Britifli indivi* duals are fcarcely to be punifhed in the perfons of Annericans, by a deprivation o^ their privileges. Neither does this hap« pen, except where the conftitution has deviated from its original; and when therefore it ought rather to be reftored to its purity, than its error propagated ; I mean in the declining, or decayed bo- roughs. But if it is an abfurd ftate of things, that the reprefentative {hould not be known by his conftituents, is it not ab« furd that America (hould be reprefented in Great Britain ? The principle of the conftitution in this point was fo ftrong, that by the com- mon law, no man could be either an elec- tor or a reprefentative for any place, with- out refiding on the fpot. And upon the founded reafon. Men, at that unrefined period, refided on their property. There was therefore not only more perfonal C 2 know- , > [ «» ] , knowlrage and iritercomf^, btit a greater ^ommtmity of the moft foKd interefts, and of property above all, between men refi<* dSn|; in the fame ^otinty or town ; than between perfons (thbngh of the famd jcingdom) who refided at a conOderable diftante from each other. Both reprefent tatires and electors were, Hkejurocf, from the vicinage. This was the great and found principle of our forefathers. They knew that government wai an art, prac- ticaly not theoretic, ft was not an ab« flradl fubtlety that contented them, but a iblid and binding principle of foclal con* neJtion. What that was preciftly with refpe^t to what is commonly called repre- fentation may deferve perhaps to be a lit-* tie explained. •" ' Words that are long in common ufe ac- quire fo many fenfes, that they lofe ex- adtnefs. This perhaps is the cafe of the word reprefentarion. A reprefentative^ however, we underftand to be a delegate | a perfbn not felf-authorized i but confli- tuted by fomething elfe. I will call him member, as lefs equivocal. Now what it r 1. -„. .V««jiV'- I »» J k wbtch odttfllniteft the member ? I tzf the property of the county or borough ^ notthe perfons. Hence m.iny pcrfons in a county or borough hare not votes i v^ich ought not to he, if the pcrfons iii the countv or borough were to conflituts the member. But it is the property of the county or borough that h to do foi and therefore, property, /fga/fy notified^ never fails to have a vote, that is, to make an elcftbr ; for elcftors arc the me- dium through which property is to ope- rate. This will be flill more illuflrated hereafter. Freehold property conftitutes county reprefentatives. Perfonal property conftitutes all 6thers. To explain this. Perfonal property was confidcred by the old law, zs fugitive and unreal, compared with freehold property; and the quantum of it pofTeifed by any man is difficult to afcertain. Hence the taw has not fixed the quantum, nor does it require the fameprecife proof of its exiflcnce as it does in freehold ;' but has contented itfelf with feledling certain marks, and which are fbch prefumptions of perfonal property to a degree in the pof- fcfTor, I " 1 (cttor, thst the law allows them for a proof of it. Thus for indance, burgage teourc, oirth, (brvice, refidence, paying certtua rates* boiling a pot, &;c. AU thefe prove or prefume fome degree of perfonal pro- perty, apd of connexion with the foil where they are found, and are admitted as proofs of it. This fpecies of property, thus notified, conflitutes members for bo- roughs, towns, and cities. Thus proper- ty is the univerfal conftituent of the houfe of Commons. Honorary freemen, £cc* I ha?e not mentioned, being a niodera device^ unconnedted with the confti- tution. . trjfiQi'ic^.i .wU'.';ji:jii:ji3VM?'Vyi£WQD To purfue this idea. In ancient time the Commons had not very large proper- ties. The large properties were in the barons } that is, in truth, the large pro- perties made them barons. A man be- came a baron the moment be obtained a barony. Barons were not created by the crown at that time* It was an operation of property merely, not an a£t of the ex- ecutive. Thus property conflituted the baronage, and every man knows that the baronage \ . V n li btronage it only toother name for the ' peerage of England. A man who bad a certa'iA proportion of property of his own, wai of courie a peer. A number of fmaU properties, belonging to other men, com- bined and centered in one man, by virtue ef election, made him a commoner. One ' fat in right of his own property. The other fat in right of the property of others. But both fat equally by property. This accounts for fome things that (eem at firft view irregular. For inftance, the barons, in old time, fitting by their pro- perty, taxed themfelves -, that is, taxed their own property. But now, fitting by the adl of the crown merely, without re- ference to property, the Commons, who ' continue to fit by property, have claimed the whole of taxation, and the Lords have ceded it to them. This (hews to de- monftration, that the body which is con* ilituted by the property of any country^ is the only body conditutionally qualified to tax that country ; and confequently, that the provincial legiflatures are the on- ■ \y afifemblies conditutionally qualified to tax !? !i [ »♦ ] tax' tlie provinco8» and nc^t the British HcAiTe of Commons, which American property has no (hare in conftitucing. This tfhews, that by the fundamcntaU of the British go?ernmeiit* j^roperty was the vital principle. It vrm that which conftituted h9th houjks bf parliament* And for. wife reafonSfe Th^t the intereil of the members might as much as poffi- ble coincide with iheir duty ; that the former might a£t as a centinal upon the latter, and that the very thing which gave men a vote in the legiilature, (hould fu- perintend and fway the exerci.e of that vote. And Curely in fo ordaining, they ihewed a more intimate knowlege of hu- man nature, and more falutary views^ than thofc men who now argue, .hat members will do their duty as well, who have no fuch motives of intereil to prompt them 10 it» whatever they may have to the contrary i and that that aifembly is, in all points^ even to taxation itfelf, the fit- teft legtilature for America, which has not an inch of American property in the wbok ftru<^ure ^d formation of it. Having , h. ,:'''^- ■ 1|-|i[lll iiilrtill'fKT :'*t , r «5 J Having thus cleared to demonftration, I think, the fundamental principle of our government as to this fubjedt, let me ad- vert a little to the pradice of the conftitu- tion, as it would have been on your princi- ple, and as it a<^ually has been. Had the Norman conqueror returned to Normandy, and made that the feat of empire, the Norman ftatcs would have been the imperial legiflature. Would he have been entitled, I aik, to tax his Eng- ]\(h fubjcdts in his ftates of Normandy .^ You will not affirm it. Yet might he not fay, ** My Norman ftates made laws for all my fubjeds, when I had no fub- jedts beyond Normandy ; and why may they not. continue to do fo ilill, tho' my condition is altered in that refped ? My Norman law has maie no dillindtion concerning my fubjcdls beyond fea ; (for the prince might forget, that till he had fubjedts beyond fea, no mention of them could be expeded.) I am too moderate to make thefe fubjeds beyond fea, de- pendant on myfelf. They ihall be de- pendant on my Norman ftates ; and there D will ; t *« J will be this comfort in it bcHdes, that I can do what I pleafe with my Norman ftates» whereas the popular aflemblies beyond fea might be lefs manageable." This rpeeoh, no doubt» would be highly reliQied ; the Norman ftates would be flattered ; a great majority would vote for the doflrine ; the minority would be cal- led an £ngli(h fadion and decried j and all would be harmony and fatisfadtion in Normandy. But how would it have gOLe in England ? I will anfwer this queftion for you. He muft have conquered it a- gain, and again, and again. If he were once worded, he would have been un- done, and every paufe of bloodlhed would have been a renewal of war. England, however, as I hope it always will, continued io be the feat of empire to him and to his defcendants. Did any of them attempt to tax their dominions beyond fea in the legiflature of England ? Never. The Scotch have aflerted, that they conquered England ; the Engliih have afTerted, that they conquered Scot- land. Did either nation, though conti" gUOUSt [ «7 1 gttouj, ever think of taxing the other in its domcilic legiflalure ? No fuch thing was ever thought of. Henry the Fifth con- quered France. Did he or his fon ever attempt to tax France in the Engliih par- liament ? Or if they had refided in Fr' nee, would the Aates of France have been the conftitutional legiflature for taxing the Englifti fubjed? You will not fay it. Was Wales, though conquered and conti- guous, ever taxed by the £ngli(h parlia- ment till it fent reprefentatives thither ? Never. When the crowns of England and Scotland were united in the perfon of James the Firft, who made England the feat of empire, did the parliament of England ever think of taxing Scotland ? Or in queen Anne's reign, wlien the Scotch were averfe to a union, were they ever told, that the Englidi parliament could do the bufinefs, if they were refrac- tory i for that Scotland was reprefented in D 2 the ^ [ «8 ] the parliament of England, though all the property on the other fide of the Tweed did not conflitute one vote towards con« flituting one member of that alTembly ? No man ever dreamed of fucb a thing. Did Henry the Second, or any of his fuc« cefTors, ever attempt to tax Ireland in the Englifh parliament, though conquered, and not very diftant ? No, you confeft. But the judges, you fay, have mentioned a didindtion to account for thi.<; exemp- tion, viz. that Ireland had a parVament of her own. But why was a parliament given to her ? Becaufe no man thought at that time, that the Englifh parliament was a conftitutional or adequate legiilature in ordinary, for dominions beyond fea. Nor can I believe, that the judges ground- ed their decifion merely on the trifylla-. ble, ** parliament ;" or that they had any other idea, than that Ireland having a legiHature, by whatever name, compe- tent [ 29 ] - tent to taxation, it was not fitting that (be (hould be taxed by the EngliOi parlia- ment, in the conftituting of which the property of Ireland had no (hare. Now this holds equally as to the provincial af* femblies, and to the legiflatures or ilates of every kingdom or province which I have before- mentioned J and therefore it is clear, that this univerfal pradice was founded on a univerfal principle, that the parliament of England ought not to tax any part of the dominion, the property of which had not its due (hare in confti- tuting that aflembly. But there is an in- ftance more precifely in point, and that is, the pradice of parliament with refpcft to thefe very Colonies. From their ori- gin till the commencement of this dif- pute, the parliament of England never attempted to tax them. It is confeffed to have been a new idea, and as fuch prin- cipally it has been gloried in by Mr, Greenville 7m»M™|f .4" ■' • [ 3° ] GrecnTiUe and his friends. Will nothing convince men? I know« however, there are ptrfym who will be ready to contra* di^ this, and to mention, that the poft- office is a tax. To this I anfwer, firft, that it does not bear the letter and form peculiar to a tax law ; and was not intend- ed on the one fide, nor received on the other as fuch; and therefore can be no precedent. At leaft, if it were intended io by you, the intention was mafqued. There was concealment in the tranfadtion, enough to deilroy it in a court of equity. And if you fet the example of ligitiouf- ne£s^ and of little ovcr-reachings to your dependencies, you will make them afraid of you in every part of your dealing $ which will encreafe your difficulties with' out end, and will begin with univerfal contention, as it will terminate in univer- fal chicane. Next I anfwer, that the poil-office was an undertaking firil carried on r 3' ] on by individuals at their private hazard ; iincc adopted by the (kue, which ijizndf in ihe place oniy of thofp individuals as to the dependencies ; and that it is po,w as ajQ eftablijhment, maintained at the fole ex« pence of G:reat Britain. She therefore has a right to fay ts> any man« that if he ovakes ufe of that convenience he (hall pay for it. It is a matter of compadt^ not of legiflation^ either in letter ,or it> fpirit. The Americans can fend their letters by other conveyances. They have done fo. And if they generally do other- wife, it is becaufe they prefer the public vehicle to any other, not becaufe they are confined to it. That is, they pay poftage for the carriage of their jettersi^ as they would pay a flage coach for the carriage of their perfons. I deny, there- fore, that there is a iingle inflance in which the Britifh parliament has taxed the Colonies. And you cannot deny that the ; ] I 3« ] the BritiOi parliament has acknowledged, that the provincial afTemblles can tax the provinces, and that, infa^, they have ex- ercifed that right in a manner the moft meritorious towards this country. You cannot therefore conteft their power of granting money, nor their inclination to grant reafonably ; but you fear, that they will not grant unreafonably. You want therefore to deprive them of a negative, and to extort what you pleafe by threaten- ing, that you will tax them here, if they do not implicitly tax themfelves in Ameri- ca. Not content with a reafonable re- fource in an application to their choice, you want to eflabliih a boundlefs refource in their fears. Like our arbitrary princes, you are ftraining the prerogative of this country, that under the terror of it you may obtain what you do not chufe from an unconftitutional pride, or what, from its unreafonablenefs, you are afraid to aik. Your t 33 i Your apprehenfions that the Colonies might by Provincial Grants render the Crown independant^ unlefs Parlia- ment had a right to interpofe, is only a pretence ? Why have you ever let them make grants then ? And is not your com- plaint that they have granted too little, not too much ? But if that be your real fear, you can remedy it without a civil war. Pafs an A&. of Parliament, declar- ing that it (hall not be lawful for the Crown to give the royal afTent to any provincial grant without the approbation of Parliament. America will not re- fufe you a negative on her grants, but (he will not relinquish a negative on your demands* 1 repeat, that the Englifh Parliament has never taxed the Colonies. And if I could not, I fhould fay, what all the world muil acknowledge, that neither they, nor any body of people on earth, could defend their freedom for half a century, if a defultory and a queftionable inflance could overthrow it. It is not one problematical precedent E that 1 [ 34 ] that can be of any weight agairifl a peo- ple. It muft be by the general current of rational, unequivocal, and unocca- fional praAice, that the conftitution of any country is to be tried. And may not the Colonics well fay, that it would be wonderful indeed if our Parliament had been defigned to be an univerfal legiAature to the ends of the earth, and as to all points ? That our forefathers muft have been not only wife men, which they were, but prophets, which they were not, if they could have forefeen our American acquifitions ? And that no concluflon can be more certain, than that our Parliament, in fa^'I« JJ^ '•'.< ^;>T'^. 'S'^ :r' 1' - 'V '".; "T, \ [ 38 I traffic? If therefore your monopofy of American traffic fupplies a good part of thofe taxes, is it jufl to fay, that Ame-^ rica does not contribute ; or that ihe is not entitle to protection from any part of them? May (he not alfo aiTert, that |he is not the authorefs of that debt with which you charge her? -That the war? of JCing William and Queen Anne began it; that venal and unmanly CQunfels continued it ; and that in the lail war i% wa& the Germanic, and not the American Continent* from which it received its ^nal accumulation ? That all thefe mea-^ fures were the produA of EnglUh Coun-* lels, which were approved by the British Parliament, but over which the Colonies had no influence ? That if the lail war began about American boundaries, it was qnly becaufe America is a Britifh terri- tory, and that it would equally have be- gun in whatever part of the dominion the encroachment had beoi made ? And if you will have America to be particu- larly 'f I i^ ' [ 39 ] larly concerned in the commencement of that war, may (he not be bold to fay, that it was the conquers in America which your Colonics helped to make, and the cefHons in America which they did not help to make, that accomplifhed the peace ? Has (he not reafon to bid you lock forward, and to tell you, that bend- ing under that national debt, the Conti- nent of Europe is not a fcene on which you can adt ; and that it is by the Ameri- can Continent only that the balance of Europe can be any longer in your hands ? That by your great fuperiority of num- bers tliere, you conunand both the Ame- ricas, command Spain and Portugal, influ- ence France and other powers of Europe, a»"'' that therefore inftead of checking their encreafe by a jealous and hoitile policy, you ought to encourage it by every juft and generous inftitution: that inftead of exafperating them by fy(tcm, you (hould bind them to you by every demonftration of liberal attachment; and that „*>«».• [ 40 ] that you fhould leave thorn to cohdu^ themfelves to profperity, without the alarming interpoiition of imperial au^ thority^ except where it it 19 hffa fide eiTentlal to preierve Great-Britain at th« head of an united empire? And a$ uxing the Colonies in the Britifh Parliament, or making them tax themfelves by com- pulfory requiiition from hence, is incon^ >£ftent with all the rights of Britiih pror perty; and as it is evident from your own paft experience, that fuch a power is not nece/Taiy to the union of your em- pire, but probably inconilAent with it ; have they not reafon to hope that you will renounce the idea with a manly de- ciiion, and not hold over their heads, in terrorem, a claim, which even arbitrary countries do not exercife over their colo- nies, the eilablilhments of which are maintained at the expence of the parent ftate, without raifing in them any cor - . ception that their colonies are therefore ufekfs* .J' [ 41 ] •■ ■ ufelefs, or that their empire is in danger of being diflblved ? Surely no man can doubt but that '^ ftem of Colony Government is beft by which you will derive the greateft benefit from your Colonies, with the leaft dif- quietude and difcomfort to them and to yourfelves. You will not let them go at large into manufa^flures or commerce. What follows ? That they never can be rpi .>t ftates, and not being fo, that taey never can be produ<5tive of any con- liderable revenue. Do not endeavour to unite incompatibilities. You have made your choice, and you have made a wife one. You have chofen the greater object in preference to the lefs. You have chofen copious returns of trade, rather than fcanty refources of tribute. It would be ab-fi:rd now to fliake and to re- verfe your yi^ -ni for the purpofe of going back to wh: ov were right in originally relinquifhing. x*.nd right too not only becaufe it is in itfelf of more val'u, but F becaufc wmm V. [ 42 ] r becaufe you can get much ii: this way without difguflingyourColoriifts; where* as you could get but little in the other with their total alienation. And that, for this plain reafon; — thnt men can bet-' ter bear to be deprived of many means of acquifition, than to lofe all fecurity in what they already poflefs. For men can be happy without wealth, but they can- not be happy with not )' r It was right alfo, becaufe if your ti to taxation was ever fo clear, it is equally clear that you ought not to ufe it— witnefs the Stamp-adt ; a law particularly calculated to execute itfelf, digeftedTby an acknow- ledged Financiet-, and prepared for by him as a great experiment, with much circumfpedtion, and through a long pe- riod of time : And yet take the Wh6le fyflem, and you find a thoufand errors in it, and inaptitudes to the place for which it was deiigned. What then would it be reafonable to expert from fuch a power in the hands of ordinary , • ^"' '■ "' ' financiers. j t .: -, ■ I 43 ] a . financiers, and in the common courfe of bufmefs, in which expedition, and round numbers, as it were, are preferred to ac- curacy or juftice ? What but eternal blunders, eternal mifcarriages, and eter- nal feuds ? What would be the confe- quence ? You would hazard all your Americaii commerce, and all your Ame- rican empire for the fhadow of revenue. Without a large army you could levy nothing. With a large army the expence would over-balance the receipts. If that army did not relide, all would be confii- fioh the nioment it departed; if it di^ refide, how could its ranks be kept full ? Or how could it be prevented from be- coming American ? And if all thefe di(li- culties were removed, how could fuch a fyftem be reconciled to the principle of your empire, which is free and commer- cial ; and which cannot be either of thefe without being both ? Rome, how- ever, it may be faid, governed her Pro- vinces by armies. Be it fo. But her F 2 empire '^^M ■I I I I a 1 i'. [ 44 ] empire was military, not commercial. War was to her, in fome meafure, what peace is to us. It fanned the principle of her government. Armies too were to Rome what Navies are to Great- Britain. Yet what was the confequence of this meafure there ? All manner of ihjufticc and rapine fpread through the Provinces under the fandlion of the Ro- man banner. Some of the dependencies were ruined more quietly. Others re- volted. Larger armies were called for. The ruin of fome provinces, and the mighty armies fullained in others, cx- haufted the empire. The dijiant legions became tumultuary. One province was employed againft it's neighbour. As one army was quieted, another mutinied. The Empire was tofled from hand to hand; and the Roman Goverment, once fo famous, became a theatre of military ravage; full of contending Emperors, and confliding Legions. The fame tu- ■\ ^1) nion. ';^5J..\'l. /' -> \ C 47 1 I fiion. Is this nothing ?^ You raifc mcB /or your fleets and armies throughout the whole. Is this nothing ? 'Xhe worft that pan happen is that you may fometlmes fail in getting money from them alfo. This tooypu will get in a rea!fonable de- gree, and with rcafonabk attention tp them. Neither is all that t*\y can ever contribute, over and above the maintainr ance of their local eftablilhfnents, wprtl^ a ciyil war. For as to any iignificant re- mittances of revenue from America tp Creat-Britain, it is too abfurd to talk about. Add tp all I have faid above, what is indeed revenue, and, infinitely more than revenue : That Britain, as the head of a naval and commercial Empire, mull be fupreme iii trade aii^ commerce, naval and maritime regulation. Is this nothing ? Or rather is it not every thing ? Will you get nothing from your Colo- nies by fuch a fyftem II will be told tp hy that you will get more than any na- tion under the fun ever obtained from Colonies i! ,f '!. I f ' . f 48 ] Colonies before ? What follows from all this ? That you are going at this very moment, jit the expeoce of every fpecies of injuftip? and cruelty, to contend with your countrymen for nothing, at the Ixa^ zard of every thing, Jf this is cooimon ^nfe go on with it, You fay it is ftrange that in this dif- pute Englifhmen have become oppo^ nents to Englifh honour and intereft i^— That perhaps it never happened before that juftice found n>uch oppofition with intereil on her fide ; and that the prin^ ciples of the Congrefs, however w/A/, have united a// the provinces againft the mother country, from New Engjan'i to South Carolina. Are not thefe circum- ftances, I afk, much ftronger prefump- tions againft you, than in your behalf? For is it poffible to conceive, that a caufe, in which no religious enthufiafm enters, which has nothing to appeal to but reafon and juftice, and againft which \he femblance of a national intereft and honour ■I .;■ [ 49 ] ndnour is leagued — is it to be conceived that il.ch a caufc, if founded in fraiui or falfehood, could hare flood ten year S2ip- tation without detection ? Or that if it were not built on the mod folid truth, and upon the moll commanding juftice, that io many provinces, with fo many prin- ciples of difcord to keep them afunder, would have united againft a parent coun- try fo powerful, and to which the mo- ment before they were fo cordially uni- ted ? And that fuch a combination in Ame- rica, (hould not produce union in Great- Britain, even if before there had been nothing but enmity 5 inftead of leaving this matter as it has done, to be the lead- ing, and almofl the only fubjedl of con- trovcrfy amongft us ? And what can be more honourable to the charader of this great and jud nation, than that no (b- phifm of perverted talents like yours ; no pretexts even of national tntereft, or ho- nour ', nor all thefe, aided by the voice of Parliament itfelf, could warp the in- - G tegrity 1 [ so ] tcgrity of the public mind : or blind it to thofe rights in their countrymen, which the people of this kingdom, by fuch an unOiakcn adherence to them, have rtiewii they will not fuffer to be torn from them- felves ? You fay that the Colonies of Britain fiiffer from thofe of other nations, no otherwifc than as the Englidi conftitu- tion differs from theirs. T* ,e American agrees with you, and fays that is in free- dom. But that, not a modern device drefled up in deceitful words, but the fo- lid freedom jjf the Britilh conftitution ; which cannot exift without a refident le- giflature for domeftic regulation in general, and for taxation particularly furnifhed with members conJUtuted by the property of that country which they are to tax. He who goes voluntarily to Kvcitvic2if you fay, cannot complain of lofing what he leaves in Europe ; for that as a man can be but in one place at once, he cannot have the advantage of multiplied refidence. But i«'L J { 5> ]• But firft, our Colonifts were not mere voluntary emigrants. They went by the invitation of the State. A futile claim to an uncultivated territory was all you had. That you would have loft if you had not fent them to keeppofleflion of it. They went therefore in the fervice of their country, and a hard fervice too. A barren, or over- wooded foil was what you gave them. You owe your title to that foil, at this moment, to their occupancy; they owe the fruits of it to their labour ; anr' ♦hey pay the monopoly of its trade to y< 'iperior and parental relation. Men who ftand in this lituation are not lightly to be conftrued out of their privileges. . They allow, by this change of place, that they lofe their vote for a reprefentative in Britain ; and they claim in lieu of it, though by no means an equivalent, a vote for a reprefentative in America. They fay it is an infeparable quality of property by the Britifh Government, to conftitute the members of the ledflature that are G 2 to r A""-v- i ■ [5* r to t^ that property ; that as their prof pcrty lies in Americas, it mull conftitute the members that are to tax America ; bu^ that it has no /hare in conftjtuting the Britifh Houfe of Commons, and that therefore they are not to be taxed by that affembly. You lay that the Americans do not wirti to fend reprefentativcs to the Britiili par- liament, and I believe it. They fee the difficulty, or rather impqffibility of exe- cuting fuch an idea, and how unfairly, if it were poflible, it is likely to be exe- cuted. They conclude, therefore, that they muft be reprcfented and taxed 7n America. But you conclude the reverfc, that they ought to be taxed in England ; and fay, that there is little difference, if any, between a man's being t/^xed by com- puljhn without reprefentatton^ and being reprcfented by compuljion in order to be tui^ed. This feems, how coniiftent^y I know not, to ftate this as the alternative to which the American iv reduced. And the -y ff >, : ^ r 53 1 ihe American confefles that your dodtrliM 9X the beft, doe$ not mend that condi# tion. For he fays that if yoxi force hin» to receive at the point of the /word zjk^ tion of his bcinjj virtualiy reprefented here, that he will then be exadtiy in the fhte you defcribe» viz. that of being r^preftut'* fd by comfulfion in order to be taxti^ And he admits that violence in the 6nt inftance, by taking his money by forc^ without any law, would be lefs an in« (ult to his underftanding ; and perhaps a lefs dangt^rous becaufe a more al&rmin^ violation of his property. ' And though every part of your publi*? cation brei;thes nothing but the fpirit of tyranny, yet there is one pafTage fo auda^ pious that it deferves to be diflinguifhed. In your 241th page you have thefo words, an Englijb Individual may by the fupremc authority be deprived of liberty, and a Co- lony divefted of its pvwers, for reafons of which that authority is theyo^ judge." If oije Individual, or one Colony, can i'^ \ \ ! f 54 ] be thus deprived, fo may all the Colo- nies together j Co may every man in the community. For I defy any man to ihew where any limitation exifts, if any fuch power be admitted. By this dodtrine, the Parliament, for reafons of which it h the Jb/e judge 3 that is without affign- ing any reafon at all, may make every man in the Britifh Empire a Have in one day. That is to fay, a body of men, taken from amongft ourfelves, in num- ber not '^bove a thoufand, colledbed in. one fpot of the Empire, under the moft facred truft for the fervice of the whole, are entitled to do that which no power on earth has a right to do, viz. to make flaves at one blow> and without faying wherefore, of fourteen millions of fellow fubjeds, and of their pofterity, to lateft time, and throughout every quarter of the world. Is fuch language to be en- dured ? Or can he be a friend to human nature who ufes it ? ^;'\ ^ : ; -v .: :.i, -./x-.i With 4 4 ^! [ J5 ] With equal humanity in your 6oth page, you fay " if the Boftonians are ** condemned unheardy it is becaufe there *• is no need of a trial. All trial is the ** inveftigation of fomething doubtful" Your ideas of legiflation we had before, and yoxjiv judicial ideas are as intolerable. To fay that a crime's being notorious, or aflerted to be notorious, will juftify condenmation unheard, is too infolent an impolition. Where is the Caligula who would not fay that the guilt of the man, or of the province that he wanted to deftroy, was notorious. If the afler- tion of the tyrant will convert cruelty into juftice, no tyrant will ever be cruel. But the law of England is fo different from your fentiment, that it prefumes every man to be innocent, till his guilt is tried and eftablifhed. That is, inftead of condemning unheard, fo long as any man is unheard, it acquits him. t Neither do you ftop at barren tenets of tyranny; but endeavour to propagate r. thenr ! t y 4 '-\"'-: t 56 1 them into adl j and to (hmp tJieir image? upon the meafures of Government. Yout call aloud to the Crown, to new model ; that is, to innovate charters. Yet what is your doArine with refpeft to charters ? It is that if thefe emigrants had gone without ceremony to feek their fortunes in any diftridt wliich was unoccupied, oi^ which by arms, addrefs, or labour, they had acquired, they would have been in- dependent ftates. But that by accept- ing thefe charters, the Colonifts put themfclves under the protection of the ftate, and by neceffary implication undef its jurifdidtion and authority. Thus yoa confefs that if it were not for thefe char- ters, they might have been independent $ and yet in other places you fay that if is to thefe charters they owe that they are freemen. At one tinie you ftate thefef charters as an invaluable favour conferred upon them, and at another, as an in- extricable chain by which they are bound. You ftate it as a compad; and juftly with J J r 57 i I with rerpe(% to the Emigrants; for they gave up every thing here for what they obtained in America. What fol- lows ? That you cannot take that away from them without reftoring, at leaft, what they gave up for it. Now what if that !* All that they, and their defccn- dants might have acquired by remaining in Great-Britain ever fince, all which they have loft ; and which is probably much more than they have gained. Now this I believe you would find it hard to calculate, and as hard perhaps to pay. — * To returi>. W ho were the parties to this compa(^; The Colonics and the Crown; not the Parliament. Now if in fuch a tranfadion, the Parliament is not included, it is final againfl the Par-* liament. If on the other hand it is in- cluded, and that the Crown is to be con- fidered as acting for the Parliament, I fay that its adt muflbe binding on both fides, pr on neither. That is to fay, that Par-t liament mufl be bound on one fide, or H the f^ [ 58 ] the Colonift is not bound on the other. And this with good reafon j firft, bc^ caufe it is the hature of compadt to be mutual, or null. And next, begaufe if the terms were difagreeable to Parn liamenty Parliament had an opportunity of immediately undeceiving the Colo-< nifls, and declaring their diiTent > which if they did not tliey are bound* Now did they make any fuch declaration ? Nothing like it. 1 fay then that the faith of Legiflature is . as much pledge4 by this fubfequent and implied dflent, as by an antecedent .participation. I have proved, . that taxation by a^ AlTembly, not conftituted by the pror perty which it taxes, is an idea repug- nant to our conftitutlon. Such a power, therefore, to exift at all, mufl be re- ferved in the moft exprefs terms. Now it is confelTed that taxation is r€ferve4 only in one charter, that of Pennfylva- nia. By every other therefore it is ex- cluded I fiiy; and that, not only by con- ( w/ •s. J 's. 66n(titutiohaI inference, but tjy the co- operation of Parliament itfelf in the aflent which it has given to thefe char- ters, as above explained. And to this natural conl^rudiion of the charters as they ftand expreffed, I add the contem- porary and continual conftrudtion which they have received from the conduft of Parliament, which beft knew its own intentions, and which did not tax them : infomuch that the non-ufer may be better argued to be a tacit renunciation of taxation as to Pennfylyania, where the power was refervcd'; than as leaving a doubt but that there is no fuch right v^herc it was not referved. And (hall any man fay that fuch rights, purchafed originaHj by what was relinquifhed here, pufchaibd fincc by llbour and fervice in America, and ratified by time, the ar- bkef of <3rovernment8»— Shall any man fay chat fuch rights are to be blown away by the breath of the firft idle difputant ? Or that they are dterable or revocable every .V H 2 hour j i % . I ■{ !i| [ 6l> ] hour of the day; with this zhCusdivf added to injuAice, that they are altert^le ^nd revocable only on one iidei that is to the injury of the Colonifl for ever, and at no period of time to his benefit ? And this without confidering, that by your own do«5lrine thefe charters* in- ilead of being annulled as the ground of their independance, ought to be held facred and immutable as the. fource of your authority ? But not content with innovating, char- ters, you advife that the Americans unl- verfally ihould be fubjugated by flrider laws and Wronger obligations. You ex- hort that national vengeance may be poured on the contrivers of mifchief, and that no mifiakes of clemency (hould prevent abundant forfeitures. Left this (hould not be fufficiently harfh and hu- miliating* you fuggeil, that their flaves may be taken from them, though, by your laws, their property, and fettled* with arms for their defence* in fome . : fimple. f ^ ^ t 6i 1 fimple, that is, vbitnuy form of gO« vernment. Thus you would eibblUh a Saturnalia of cruelty, and expofe thefe devoted men to the brutality of their pwn flaves, enflamed and irritated to retaliate tradionary wrongs, and to wreak fL barbarous vengeance on their degraded mafters. Leifl even the common foldier ihould have too much tendemefs for them, you are careful to represent them under every odious and difparaging image. You fay, that we ought to refent our fituation as the Scythians did ■of old when they found themfelves ex- cluded by their own Jlaves. You 0ander the very bounties of nature in themi and, as far as you can, degrade them below the rank of humanity. • ^ Is this the language of a fobcr en- quirer? As a philofopher, as a moralift, as a man, you ought to have cried out to the contending nations, ** Infatuated •* as you are, whither do you ru(h ? '* Though you may have fome caufe « for i ■ ! ^j^, HiV^^tjiijfij, t 6< r ^^fot diflferencc with each ottcf^ fM •'have much ihwc ftill ifor -concord/' 8tit ydu have fcattered firebrands be. - ■ ■■ - i — The lumotirof your ftilc,