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 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
THE' 
 
 REGULATIONS 
 
 Lately Made cOttceiiung the 
 
 COLONIES, 
 
 A N D 1' H E 
 
 T A X E S 
 
 Impofed upon Them, confidered. 
 
 k. ISL M 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for J. WiLKie, in 5*^ Paul's Church-Tardi 
 and may be had at the Pamphlet- SIjop« at the Royal- 
 Mif^ange^ and Cbaring-Cro/s. 1765, 
 
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J* 1 
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 T H H 
 
 REGULATIONS 
 
 Lately made with Refpeft to the 
 
 COLONIES confidered. 
 
 THE immediate Defence of our Colo- 
 nies from imminent Danger, was the 
 fole occafion of the laft War : Their 
 permanent Security has been effeftually obtained 
 by the Peace : And even their Aggrandizement 
 and Improvement have been provided for by 
 the Negotiators of that Treaty, beyond the 
 idea of any former Adminiftration : There 
 have been Minifters ignorant of the Importance 
 of the Colonies ; others, have impotently neg- 
 k(5led their Concerns-, and others again have 
 been diverted by meaner Purfuits from attend- 
 ing to them : But happily for this Country, the 
 Real and Subftantial, and thofe arc the Com- 
 mercial Interefls of Great Britain, are now pre- 
 ferred to every other Confidcration : And the 
 Trade from whence its greateft Weahh is de- 
 rived, and upon which its Maritime Power is 
 principally founded, depends upon a wife and 
 proper ul'e of the Colonies : From them, we are 
 
 B •» 
 
Ft 
 
 I'M 
 t ! 
 
 I 
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 to expert the Multiplication of Subje«5ts ; the 
 Confumption of our Manufaftures -, the Supply 
 of thofe Commodities which we want j and the 
 encrsafeof our Navigation : To encourage their 
 Population and their Culture ; to regulate theh* 
 Commerce J and to cement and perfect the ne- 
 ceffary Connexion between t'.:cm and the Mo- 
 ther Country, fhould therefore be the principal 
 Objeds of a Britifli Minill:er*s care •, and many 
 Steps have been lately taken, which by their im- 
 mediate Operation, or diflant Confequences, 
 may materially affedl thefe important Concerns. 
 Every Man who is fmcerely interefted in whate- 
 ver is interefting to his Country, will anxiourty 
 con fide r the Propriety of thefe Meafures ; will 
 enquire into the Information, and Canvafs the 
 Principles upon which they have been adopted •, 
 and will be ready to applaud what has been- 
 well done ; to condemn what has been done a- 
 mifs; and to fugged any Emendations, Im- 
 provements, or Additions, which may lie within 
 his Knowledge, and occur to his Refledion. 
 The following Sheets are written with a View 
 to facilitate luch an Examination : They pre- 
 tend to no more than to colled the feveral Re- 
 gulations that have been lately made with refped: 
 to the Colonies : To weigh the Reafons upon* 
 which each of them appears to have beca 
 founded -, and to fee how far thefe are fup- 
 ported by Fad:s, and by Maxims of Trade and 
 of Policy. Thefe Regulations are many j and 
 have been made in the different Departments of 
 ourLegiflaiive or Executive Government : They 
 are therefore fcattered thro* Proclamations » 
 Statutes, and Orders : But they are all of equal 
 
 Publick 
 
1 
 
 C 5 ) 
 
 Publick Notoriety; which every Man may 
 know ; which every Man ought to know j and 
 which when brought into one V^iew and confide- 
 red together, will appear to be either crude, 
 incoherent, weak and pernicious Ads of Power, 
 or a well digefted confiftent, wife and falutary 
 Plan of Colonization and Government. 
 
 The new Acquifitions will naturally firft at- 
 tradl our Attention : They are vaft in extent, 
 and richly productive of the valuable Commo- 
 dities which belong to their feveral Climates •, 
 but befides thefe, we derive further Advantages 
 from them on Account of their Situations : 
 The PoflelTion of thofe in North America en- 
 fures the fafety of the other Colonies there -, in- 
 fomuch, that our only dangerous Neighbours, 
 the French, do not think the Pittance that was 
 left them on the Continent, worth Retaining, 
 but by the Cefllon they are faid to ha\>' made of 
 Louifiana to the Spaniards, hnve avow'aljy given 
 up for ever thofe great Obje6ls, for which alone 
 they began the War. The ceded Iflanus are of 
 almoft equal Confequence, for Protedung our 
 - own, and for Annoying the Settlements of the 
 French 2ind Spaniards, if they fliould oe again our 
 Enemies. But the greater the Importance of 
 tiiefe Accefllons to the Britijh Dominion, lb much 
 the more Care and Circumfpedtion is requilite 
 in the Difpofuions to be made concerning them : 
 And fuch is the Difference of their Situations 
 and Circumftances, that the fame Regulations 
 may be necefTary to the one, and fatal to Ithe 
 other. 
 
 The Benefit which accrues to the Mother- 
 Country from a Colony on the Continent, prin- 
 
 b 2 ' cipally 
 
,f.-™™ 
 
 I! \ 
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 cipally depends on the Number of its Inhabi- 
 tants } that of a Plantation in the {(lands arifes 
 from the Richnefs of its Commodities : We 
 rely on the former chiefly for the Confumption 
 of our Manufadlures : We cxpeft more from 
 the Produce of the latter, for our own Con- 
 fumption and for Exportation : This Diflindtion 
 •i fo ftriftly true, that tho* the Supply required 
 by the Inhabitants of the Weft-Indies is in value 
 much beyond that which is ppceflary to the 
 Americans in Proportion to their Numbers , yet, 
 that Wealth, that Luxury, and thofe Circum- 
 ftances of Climate, which incline them to Ex- 
 travagance, at the fame Time induce them to 
 prefer the finer Produdions of other Countries, 
 to the coarfc Commmodities of our own ; for 
 the Manufadures of Great Britain arc good, 
 rich, and folid, but not delicate j ftrong with- 
 out Grace •, and rather fubftantial than elegant : 
 To the plain, the induftrious and frugal Repub- 
 lican or Americdy who is content with the Ne- 
 ceflaries of Life, thefe arc welcome, becaufe 
 they are uleful : but they are not equally ac- 
 ceptable to the IV ejl- Indians^ who think them- 
 feives intitled to buperfluities, and whole ari- 
 llrocratical Opulence enables them to demand 
 the Produds of tht Eaft Indies^ and other Coun- 
 tries, more fimilar in Chmate, in Tafte, and 
 in Manners, to their own. We are therefore 
 for the moil part only Merchants to the one, 
 and fell to them what we ourfelves purchafe ; 
 but we are both Merchants and Manufacturers 
 to the other. The Returns too from each of 
 thefe Countries, are as different as their De- 
 mands: The Produ(5ts of the Continent are 
 
 the 
 
turers 
 Ich of 
 De- 
 It are 
 the 
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 the Earnings of Induftry j thofe of the Iflandj 
 are the Improvements of Wealth : To an A- 
 merican therefore a numerous Family is Sub- 
 ftance ; but a Wefi Indian mult depend entirely 
 upon his Capital : He cannot labour himfelf ; 
 he can acquire nothing but by Purchafe and Ex- 
 pence. From this Difference of Circumftances 
 it is evident, that the Objeft of Government with 
 refpe(5t to the Acquifitions in North America, 
 fhould be to tempt Inhabitants thither, and to 
 encourage Population j and with refped: to the 
 ceded Iflands, to enforce thefpecdy Culturq and 
 Improvement of Spots produdtive of fuch valu- 
 able Commodities, but ftill requiring a confi- 
 derable Expence to raife and manage thofe Com- 
 modities. Lands therefore (hould be granted 
 on eafy Terms of Settlement in the one ; but 
 fold under ftridt Conditions of Cultivation in 
 the other. 
 
 Agreeably to thefe Principles, the Governors 
 of ^ebec, Eaji Florida and IVeji Florida, (we 
 are told by his Majefty's Proclamation of the 
 7th of OMer^) are authorized, To grant 
 Lands upon fuch Terms, and under fuch moMrate 
 i^it-Rents, Services, and Acknoivkdgements, as 
 have been appointed and ft fled in the other Colonics^ 
 and under fuch other Conditions as fhall appear ne- 
 ceffary and expedient for the advantage of the Cran- 
 tees, and the Improvement and Scttlemsnt of the 
 Jaid Colonies. The Experience of a Century 
 has fuggefled this Mode of Settlement ; under 
 the fame or fimilar Terms to thele, the whole 
 Continent of America has been peopled, and 
 near two Million of Subje(fts now hold by the 
 Tenure propofed in this Prociaimation. No 
 
 further 
 
 if 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 fi:nher Encouragmcnt is necefTary •, for Grants 
 in the New, will always bs prefcicd to the like 
 Grants in the old Colonics : Novc'ty and Un- 
 certainty attradls Adventurers, who befides ideal 
 Allurements, rr^ay depend upon real Advantages j 
 they have their Ciioice to a great Degree of the 
 Lands. tliey will take up, ? id the firft that are 
 taken up will probably in a few Years becomi.^ 
 valuable Elhtcs ; with thefe and many ether 
 Circuinflances of Recommendation, there can 
 bs no doubt that the new Colonics, when put 
 upon the fame Footing with the other, vill be 
 peopled very foon. Many foreign Protei cants 
 will go thither. I fear they will be too n.uch 
 relorted to from thcfe Kingdoms, and from Ire- 
 land, unlefs Employment can be found at home 
 for thofc who muft elfe feek it at a diftance •, but 
 thegreateft Supply will be from America itfelf i 
 for lueh has been tl ^. Population of that Coun- 
 try, that many Parts of it can afford to fur- 
 nilh Inhabitants to others. The enterprizing 
 Spirit and PafTion for Difcovery, which led its 
 firft Settlers thither, is not extindl in their 
 Pofterity, who are ftill inclined to rove in queft 
 of new Habitations : They are all bred to the 
 Idea of clearing frefli Lands, and of acquiring 
 to themfelves fuch Eftatcs as their Fathers a^:- 
 quired, by thofe Means which they have kt:% 
 io fuccefsful in their own Families. In the Pro- 
 vinces which are not yet well fettled, this Prin- 
 ciple operates within the Provinces themfelves ; 
 but there are Ibme, in which the greater Part of 
 the Lands near the Sea Coafts and Banks of Ri- 
 vers, are already occupied ; and there the fame 
 Principle impels the younger Inhabitants to 
 
 Migra- 
 
 rifcjp&^^ 
 
feen 
 •ro- 
 
 'es; 
 
 It of 
 Rl- 
 ime 
 to 
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 Migration. If the Colony (hould at fii fl: rcgrc't 
 their Departure, the Lofs will quickly be re- 
 paired by thofe who are left, and who in a few 
 Years will be able to fill up the Intervals ft ill 
 remaining between the feveral Settlements •, and 
 with refpefl to the Mother Country, it is cer- 
 tainly very defirable that her People fhould be 
 fpread along every Coalt and every River with- 
 in her Dominions ; for the Means of Subfiftance 
 will be eafier there, than in the interior Parts of 
 the old Colonies : The Settlers will confequcntly 
 multiply fafler, and their Confiin^iption of our 
 Manufaftures will in the End be greater ; they 
 muft apply to Agriculture alone i their Planta- 
 tions will be open to immediate Accefs, as well 
 for receiving our Supply, as for returning to us 
 their Produce ; and neither the old nor the new- 
 Colony, fo long as they have Lands given them 
 to cultivate, will have Hands, nor be at leifure 
 to turn to Manufadures : the Conhedion of 
 both with the Mother-Country is thereby 
 ftrengthened, and thus our new Acquifitions 
 inft:ead of making the Britijli Empire too greac 
 and unwieldly ; on the contrary, enhance the 
 Value, and fecure the Dependance of our for- 
 mer PofTefiions. ' ' '" "' '' 
 
 That the granting of Lands in the new Ac- 
 quifitions upon the fame Terms as they are 
 granted in the other Colonies, will alone pro- 
 duce the Effedl 1 have defcribed, is not Matter 
 of Speculation only, but is four. ''rd upon con- 
 fiant Experience, brought down to the prefent 
 Time by very recent Inftances. That Part of 
 Nova Scotia^ which was held by the neutral 
 Frenchy has fince their Removal been reforted 
 
 to 
 
 
I 
 
 ( « ) 
 
 to wiA an Eagernefs hardJy conceivable : I am 
 greatly within Compafs when I fay that it con- 
 tains already above Ten Thoufand Inhabitants, 
 all fettled within the Compafs of Six or Seven 
 Years -, by whofe Induftry that Province, which 
 fo lately was confidered as no more than a pro- 
 per Situation for a Fortrefs, whofe Garrifon 
 it could not fubfift, will inftead of being a dc- 
 folate Frontier, foon become a flourilhing Colo- 
 ny, thronged with a hardy Race of People, who 
 by clearing away the Wood will foften the Ri- 
 gour of the Climate, and find themfelves richly 
 overpaid in the inexhauftible Fertility of the 
 Soil. 
 
 It is not Raflinefs to foretell a fimilar Pro- 
 grcfs, in the fettlement of our other Acquifiti- 
 ons : Even Cape Breton, that barren Appendage 
 to the fame Province of Nova Scotia, is known 
 now to contain Treafures, which the Miniftry 
 have thought fo worthy of Attention, as to in- 
 iert in every Grant a particular Covenant with 
 refped to them. All Coal-Mines are, I under- 
 ftand to be refer vcd to the Crown j if they were 
 not, the Settlers would be diverted from the 
 Cuhi\ation of Lands, to be Mine Adventu- 
 rers, led into Enterprizes they would not be a- 
 ble to fupport, by the tempting promifes with 
 which Uncertainty flatter."^ and feduces : On the 
 other hand, thefc Collieries when referved to the 
 Crown, may be managed by its Officers, or let 
 to fuch as are able to make a proper Improve- 
 ment of them. And there is hardly a doubt of 
 Succefs in the Undertaking, if it be fupported 
 by the Expencc it will require : For in many 
 parts of America^ efpccially in the Neighbour- 
 hood 
 
( n ) 
 
 liQod of the Great Towns, a Supply of Fuel is 
 wanting : Such has been the Force and Extent 
 of Cultivation, that Wood is bscome fcar.ce in 
 Countries, which were an impenetrable Foreft 
 not a Century ago ; and the General Aflemblies 
 have therefore found it neceflaVv to make Provi- 
 fions for the Prefervation of Timber. Coal 
 from Cape Breton may on this Account be deli- 
 vered in many of the Great Towns of America^ 
 at a cheaper Rate than any other Firing can be 
 bought ; and be the Demand ever fo great, the 
 Sopp'y from thence will always be equal to it ; 
 For the Mines arc not Veins j they are Moun- 
 tains of Coal: Vai]: Clifts of nothing elfe 
 fland open and acceffible : No Boring is ne- 
 ceflary to find it ; no Pit need be funk to come 
 at it i no Fire Engines will be requifite for car- 
 rying on the Works : Adequate Capitals only 
 mull be had for making the Leading Ways j for 
 providing a fufJicient Stock of Carriages, arid 
 of Draught Horfes or Oxen ; and for keeping 
 a large Quantity of Coal always ready to anf- 
 wcr the Demands that may be made, Thefe 
 Collieries therefore which do not feem the Ob. 
 j«fts of Grant, becaufe in the hands of common 
 Settlers they would cither be neglefted, or 
 prove ruinous to many of the Adventurers, may 
 under proper Management^ be at the fame time 
 very advantageous and convenient to the moll 
 fettled Parts of North America, a confiderable 
 Nurfery of Seamen, and a means of fubfifting 
 ufeful Inhabitants in 4 CJimate too inhofpitabla 
 for much Cultivation, 
 
 This Ifland however, and all the Neighbour-* 
 in^ Shores in the Gulph pf St, JLnmn-e, hav« 
 
 Q ijnorhcf 
 
 il 
 
■MS! 
 
 \ !! 
 
 > I 
 
 ( »=s ) 
 
 another Fund of Wealth in their Finierles, 
 which will attra£l Inhabitants without Num» 
 ber, and furnifh the Mean« of Subfiftance to 
 alK A Refident Filhery will always overpower 
 one that is carried on from a Diftanee : The 
 People concerned in it can begin to Fifli as foon 
 as the Seafon permits, and will therefore be the 
 firft at Market ; and the Merchants who fend 
 Ships thither from Great Britain^ may freight 
 their Veflels outwards, and be fure of a vent 
 for their Cargoes, in the Colonies near to the 
 Filheries. By this Advantage they will be ena- 
 bled to difpole of the Return at a cheaper Rate 
 than the French^ v/ho have no fuch Colonies to 
 take off their outward-bound Cargo: For the 
 Profit of the Britijh will be equal to that of the 
 French Merchant upon the whole Voyage, tho* 
 it fhould be lefs upon the Filli ; the abfoiute Ex- 
 clufion therefore of any French Settlement from 
 that part of the World, (for I cannot call Mi- 
 quelon and St, Pierre Settlements) will make fuch 
 a difference between the Fiflieries of the two 
 Rival Nations, that Great Britain muft, with 
 refpC'fl to fupplying otlier Countries, enjoy al* 
 moft a Monopoly : And the neceffary Confe- 
 quence will be the Population of all thofe Coafts, 
 where a Trade fo beneficial and encreafing is- 
 cftablifhed. Add to the Cod Filhery that of 
 Whales, which under the Encouragement given 
 to it during the laft Seffions of l^arliament, will 
 immediately become a confidcrable Branch of 
 Commerce (as I Ihall have occafion to Ihew 
 more at large hereafter*,) and there can be no 
 tloubc that in a few Years all thefe Coafts will 
 be flouriihing Colonics : The Profped of their 
 
 future 
 
 .|i ; 
 
ven 
 will 
 
 of 
 lew 
 
 na 
 
 Iwili 
 
 heir 
 
 Lurc 
 
 ( >3 ) 
 
 future Profperiry has, we have already fcen, 
 raifed a Competition for Grants of Lands there : 
 And the general Expeftation which this Compe- 
 tition proves, v;ill haftcn the Event it prefages. 
 Care however mufl: be taken to remove all Ob- 
 flruclions which may arife from Regulations 
 that were ellablifhed at a time, when thefe Coun- 
 tries were not in Contemplation : One of thefe 
 was xhe Duty upon "Whale-fins, which is now 
 taken off by A(5t of Pailiamtnt^, another arifes 
 from the A(5t of 17 Car. 2. c. 7. f. 6. which 
 wifely prohibits the Importation of any Europe- 
 an Commodities into the Plantations, unlefs they 
 have been laden and fiiipped in Britain', But 
 in that Ad itfelf is an Exception of Salt, for the 
 Fisheries of New England and Newfoundland^ 
 upon which the Expence and Delay of bringing 
 ■the Salt they confume thro* this Country, would 
 have been a heavy Burthen. The Indulgence 
 of carrying it diredlly from Europe has been 
 iince extended to New Tork and Penjyhania, by 
 13 Geo. I, c. 5, and by ^Geo. 2. c. 12, and a- 
 mong the Reafons for granting it, which are 
 recited in the Preambles to both thofe A6ts, the 
 Encouragement therrby given to the Fiflieries of 
 thofe Colonies, v^rili, it is faid, be highly beneficial 
 hcth to the Inhabitants of the faid Colonies ^ and to 
 the Trade of Great Britain, and enable the faid 
 Inhabitants to purchafe more of the Britiili lAanu- 
 facluresfor their Ufe^ than they are at prefent able 
 to do. The fame Reafoning furely applies witlt 
 greater force to our unfettlcd new Acquifitions; 
 and therefore the Legiflature have had the pre- 
 caution by an A61 of the laft Seflions, to provide 
 that Canada and the Additions to Ne-^foundland 
 
 C 1 and 
 
ff^ 
 
 •mmm 
 
 ■HI Mil. ■ mn.ri' 
 
 
 1' 
 
 If 
 
 i s 
 
 ( H ) 
 
 and Uova Scotia fliould be comprehended with- 
 in the Indulgence allowed to thofe, who are in the 
 like Circumltances with refped to the Filheries. 
 
 As the Benefits arifing from the increafe of 
 the Fifheries will fpread themfelves one way 
 along all the Coafts of our former Colonies, they 
 ■will in like Manner extend into the new Go- 
 vernment of ^ebsCi whofe inhabitants will of 
 courfe be deeply concerned in fo beneficial a 
 Trade, carried on juft in their Neighbourhood : 
 The Peltry will be another great Branch of their 
 Commerce -, and the Countenance given to one 
 of its moft valuable Articles during the laft 
 "Winter^ by taking ofi^ the Duty upon Beaver 
 imported here, will be a Means of its increafe. 
 I Ihall referve for another Place a more parti- 
 cular Account of the Regulation which relates 
 to that Commodity, and only mention it occa- 
 fionally here, as one Circumftancc among many, 
 which will tend to the Improvement of ^ebec j 
 but there is no Ground for any Anxiety about 
 the Population of this Province : It is already 
 a fiourifbing Colony, and raifes within itfelf all 
 Kinds of Provifions in great Plenty : It is faid 
 that the Inhabitants now amount to ninety 
 Thoufand : They will certainly within a fhort 
 Space of Time be more numerous than they 
 arc ; and their Demand upon Great Britain for a 
 Supply of Manufactures muft be immediately 
 very confiderable. 
 
 It would be Prefumption to fpeak with 
 cquil Confidence of the Southern as of the Nor- 
 thern Acquifitions in America j they were never 
 frequented by the Englijh j we have not that Ac- 
 quaintance 
 
>ty 
 
 ley 
 
 )r a 
 
 .ly 
 
 ith 
 lor- 
 
 lc- 
 
 ICC 
 
 ( 15 ) 
 
 quaintancewith them, which Conqueft has given 
 us with the others, and even their former Pof- 
 feflbrs were from want of Ability or Inclination, 
 uninformed of their real Value. All Accounts 
 however agree in rcprefenting Weji Florida as 
 furprizingly fertile : In its natural State clearer 
 of Wood than any other Part of the Continent, 
 and luxuriantly productive of every Thing elfe ; 
 yielding fpontaneoufly great Variety of Vegeta- 
 bles, abounding with Game and with Cattle, 
 and not only promifing, but actually producing 
 Wines, Silk, and Indigo. 
 • With refpeft 10 Eajt Florida, it has been fo 
 much the Subjeifl of Convc^rfacion, Ridicule, 
 and Difpute, that it is difficult to form any very 
 certain -Ideas concerning ir j yet that it is not 
 known to thofe who depreciate it, is clear, from 
 their Account of it : The Country they fay can 
 never be a nourilhing Colony, for it is barren, 
 and the greater Part of it is occupied by Tribes 
 of Indians, more numerous and more fierce than 
 any other in America: The two Circumftances 
 are abfolutely inconfiftent ; for where the Indians 
 are numerous, the Country mull be fruitful : 
 They who do not cultivate Land, require much 
 for their Subfiftance j and if the natural Pro- 
 ductions of tiie Soil are fufficicnt for fuch a 
 Confumption, a populous Settlement may de- 
 pend upon procuring Plenty by Culture. But 
 1 believe the FaCt to be, that the Eaftern Coafts, 
 which alone were formerly vifited, are fandy 
 and barren : More r'ecent Accounts however 
 reprefent the interior Parts of the Country, as 
 quite the Revcrfej and at the fame Time the 
 
 Indians, 
 
il 
 
 1 1 
 
 M 
 
 ! ! 
 
 ! I 
 
 I I 
 
 . r 
 
 ; I. 
 
 ( «6 ) 
 
 Indians^ wlio pofTefs it, and who were once nu- 
 merous, are faid to be greatly reduced in theii* 
 Numbers : The Mulberry and Orange Trees, 
 the Vine, and the Indigo, and Cotton i^Iants, 
 grow wild in many Parts of the Provinces : 
 Thefe it has in common with Georgia and South 
 Carolina ; but it has one Advantage over tiiem, 
 that being fituated between two Seas, and out 
 of the Reach of the bleak Winds, which blow 
 from the Jpalachian Mountains, it is not fub- 
 jeft to that Excefs of Cold in Winter, or to thofe 
 fudden Changes of Weather at all Times of the 
 Year, which, by the frequent Difappointments 
 they occafion, have hitherto retarded the Pro- 
 grefs that might have been expedted, in the 
 Culture and Management of the tender Plants 
 abovementioned. 
 
 Both the Floridas are in Climate better adapted 
 to fuch Cultivation than any other Colony upon 
 the Continent 5 and I am confident, will be 
 found equal in Soil to the bed -, to all which 
 muft be added, that as the building a Town is 
 one of the firft, but at the fame Time the moft 
 difficult, becaufe the mofV expenfive Step to be 
 taken in a new Settlement, this principal Ob- 
 ject is already fecurcd in Eaji Florida, which the 
 Spaniards have entirely deferted; and thereby 
 have left St. Augujline, in which were three 
 Thoufand White Inhabitants, ready for the Re- 
 ception and Accommodation of the Englijh. 
 i Mohile in Weft-Floriday tho' not fo confiderable 
 a Place, is (till large enough to obviate the Diffi- 
 culties, arifing from the Want of any Towa at 
 all in an Infant Colony ; and both will foon in- 
 
 crcafc 
 
ible 
 
 iffi. 
 
 at 
 
 in- 
 
 ( 17 ) 
 
 creafe confiderably, by the Refort of thofe who 
 engage in the contraband Trade with the Spa- 
 nijh Settlements, for which thefe Places are moft 
 conveniently fituated. Numbers will never be 
 wanting to fettle Countries, where immediate 
 Subfiftance is from the Fertility of the Soil fo 
 certain \ and the Profped of future Wealth is 
 from their valuable Produdions, and their lu- 
 crative Trade fo very flattering ; and indeed I 
 have heard fome Pcrfons efteem the Lands there 
 fo highly, as to think they ought to have been 
 fold : But the Experiment would have been dan- 
 gerous in Countries fo little known, whofe fta- 
 pie Commodities cannot be yet afcertained, and 
 where Population is at prefent the principal Ob- 
 jeft : Perhaps hereafter it may be a point defer- 
 ving Confideration, whether the publick fhould 
 not avail itfelf of the Value of the Lands it has 
 to difpofe of: At prefent it feems quite fulHcient 
 to make this Advantage of thofe Lands only, 
 which are to be expofed to Sale in the Weft- In- 
 dies : for their Produfts and their Culture are 
 certain ; and they will find Purchafers, which 
 the others probably might not to any fufficienc 
 Number. 
 
 But I am very glad to fee that the future Opu- 
 lence of the two Floridas is fo far already in Pro- 
 fped, as to prevent the Adminiftration from be- 
 ing feduced by the Circumftances of Contiguity, 
 and Refemblance, to unite them under one Go- 
 vernment. The Expence of two different Efta- 
 blifhments is not to be put in Competition with 
 the Security that refults from dividing a Power, 
 which might hereafter become alarming: We 
 
 have 
 
 "it 
 
f Tgfi 
 
 'ii 
 
 (i8) 
 
 have not a better Pledge for the Dependance of 
 the Colonies upon the Mother Country, than 
 that which arifes from their being fo many di- 
 flinft Provinces : Unconned:ed with each other 
 but by their Relation to Great'Britnin, different 
 in their Manners, oppofites in their Principles, 
 and frequently clafliing in their Interefts and their 
 Views, from Rivalry in Trade nd the Jealoufy 
 of Neighbourhood, they can ne^er form an Al- 
 liance that will be dangerous to the Mother 
 Country ; and no one of them is feparately 
 formidable : This happy Divifion was the effcdt 
 of Accident, but it (hould be continued through-r 
 out by Defign : And without promoting Dif- 
 cord or Variance between them, only by taking 
 care that too great a proportion of Territory, 
 People, and Wealth, be not united under one 
 Head, and actuated by the fame Motives, the 
 Connexion common to all with the Mother 
 Country will be preferved entire, every other 
 Bond of Union will be excluded, and the vaft 
 Syftem of Great Britain and its Colonies will be 
 permanent and compleat. 
 
 Among the Settlers in the new Acquifitions 
 will be many Officers and Soldiers, to whom 
 I-ands are offered by his Majefty*s Proclama- 
 tion, in reward for their Services ; 4nd who will 
 defend and improve the Countries, which were 
 won by their Valour. But this Bounty is very 
 properly reftrained with great Striftnefs to thofe 
 who ferved there during the late PFar, who at? now 
 reduced or dijbanded, a7id a^iually r^fiding there, 
 and whojliall perfonally apply to the Governors J or 
 the Lands %vbicb undgr thofe Qrcumftmces th^y may 
 
 claim 
 
 -!^V 
 
( 19) 
 
 claim III the feveral Proportions afllgned them by 
 the Proclamation, Were it extended to all Offi- 
 cers and Soldiers, many mi^ht be tempted to 
 leave this Country, which is at all times too 
 thinly peopled, and at prefent is exhaufted by 
 the War : But confined to fuch as lerved in 
 Americay and ftill continue there, the only Effedt 
 of it is to make their Refidence comfortable in a 
 Country, where without it they would probably 
 remain. 
 
 The Encouragement given to Settlement, Is 
 not however indifcriminately extended to the 
 whole Continent of North- America, tho* wc 
 have now got the Command of the whole. On 
 the contrary, Limits are mark'd beyond which 
 the Britijh Colonies are not for the prefent al- 
 lowed to encroach upon the Territories of the 
 Indians. The Governors of ^tiehec^ Eaji Floridm^ 
 and Wejl Florida are therefore ftridly forbidden 
 by the Proclamation, to ■pafs any Patents for 
 hands beyond the Bounds of their refpeUive Govern' 
 ments, and all the Governors of the other Colonies 
 are in like Maimer prohibited from making fuch 
 Grants of any Lands, beyond the Heads or Sources 
 of any of the Rivers which fall into the Atlaniick 
 Ocean, from the IVefi and North IVefl, or of cny 
 hands whatfoever^ which not having been ceded by 
 cr pur chafed of the Indians, are referved to them as 
 their hunting Grounds. By this prudent Reftric- 
 tion not only one Occafion cf Wars equally im- 
 politic and unjuft with the Indians, is prevented •, 
 but our own Colonifts are direfted to Settlements 
 of more Importance ; nearer to the Sea ; and 
 nearer to the Places already well fettled : where 
 
 D their 
 
 
 !t > 
 
f 
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 their Means of Subfiftance will be more cafy and 
 certain ; their Communication with the Mo- 
 ther Country more frequent •, and their Depend - 
 ance upon it more lecure; and where they will 
 neither provoke the Indians by their Encroach- 
 ments, nor tempt them by their cxpofed and 
 defencelefs Situation, to attack them. But ano- 
 ther litle to Lands might be fet up ; That of 
 Purchafc from the Indians ; which beingaTran- 
 faflion of private Perfons only, would be liable 
 to more Abufes, and to greater publick Incon- 
 veniencies. Such Purchafcs are thtrefore as 
 ftridly prohibited as the Grants, and in one Re- 
 fped the Reftraint is carried ftill further : for 
 even thofe Lands which lie within the Limits 
 where Settlement is allowed, but which are 
 relerved to the Indians, may not be bought 
 by Individuals j and if the prelent Pofleflbrs 
 ihould at any Time be inclined to difpofe there- 
 of, the Proclamation dire«5ts, that the famejhalt 
 he purchajed only for the Ufe and in the Name of 
 the Crcivn, at fome public Meeting of the faid In- 
 dians to be held for that Purpofe, by the Governors 
 cf the Cclcnics refpe^ively within which they fcall 
 lie. But none of thefe Provifions are intended 
 to fix Bounds to the Britijh Empire in America: 
 The Proclamation does not leave room for the 
 Suppofition that the Piohibitions are to be per- 
 manent : on the contrary, it declares in exprefs 
 Terms that they are only/cr the prefcnt^ and till 
 his Majefty's Ph afire fJiall be further known ; for 
 tho' the Circun)ltances of that Country require 
 them now, yet it may and I doubt not that it will 
 hereafter appear defireable to pafs thefe Bounda- 
 ries 
 
f 
 
 ( 2' . 
 
 ries upon many Occafions, anJ to make S.-ctlc- 
 menls in remote Countiics, for particular pur 
 poles: but this fhouki always be a Mealurc cf 
 Government, prudently concerted, and cautiouOy 
 executed ; not left to the Decifion ola fingle Go- 
 vernor, and much iefs to the iiitereiled Views of 
 any Indiviilua! or Scit of Individuals. 
 
 Theicllifh and inconliderate Puriuits of pri- 
 vate Perfons, have already involved the CoJc.i es 
 in many Difputes with the Indians j and Objefls 
 of much Iefs Importance than the Acquifition 
 of Lands, have been produdive of infinite Mif- 
 chiefs. The itinerant Traders among ihefe 
 ignorant people, have been guilty of fudi 
 Frauds and Abufes, as to create a general Dif- 
 truft of our national Faith, and frequently to 
 occafion Animofities for a long time irreconcile- 
 able. To guard againft fuch Evils for the Fu- 
 ture, by preventing improper Perfons from be- 
 ing concerned in that Barter, which is their on- 
 ly Commerce, it is ordered by the fame Pro- 
 clamation, that every Perfon who engages in it, 
 fhall take out a Licence from the Governor 
 for that purpofe, and give Security to obferve 
 fuch Regulations, as may from time to time be 
 thought proper for the Benefit of the Indian 
 Trade. Tiie Provifion for future Regulations, 
 gives Reafon to hope that fome are in view ; 
 and indeed many will be neccffary to fecure the 
 public tranquility, and to make all the Advan- 
 tage that may be made of fuch an Intercourfe, 
 tho' the want of certain Information, and the 
 hte Difturbar.ces in thofe Parts, may have hi- 
 therto renderc.1 it impoffible to cllabiilli tnem j 
 for it is a Work of Delicacy, as un Error onc- 
 
 D 7, com- 
 
( « ) 
 
 committed cannot cafily be retradlcd •, and tKc 
 Opinion, which from thence would be con- 
 ceived of thcii new Neighbours, would not 
 foon be removed among thefc Barbarians : yet 
 now that they fccin inclined to be quiet, I hope 
 the firll Opportunity will be taken to p*;.: their 
 Trade upon fuch a Footing, as will make it a 
 Bond of Union, not a Source of Depredations. 
 Security both from the Incurfions of the In- 
 lUayis^ and from the more regular Attacks of 
 other Enemies, will greatly promote the Settle- 
 ment of the new Colonies; for Planters will 
 value Property there much higher, and be more 
 Ibllicitcus to acquire it, when they obfervc that 
 iji the Difpofition of the Force j in America, fo- 
 many Regiments areftationcd in Slwbec and the 
 Floridas : And when they fee from the Adver- 
 tifcments in the public Papers for tranfporting 
 Cannon and Ordnance Stores thither, that Mea»- 
 fures are taken for putting thofc Provinces in 
 a State of Defence v but the Circumftance, 
 which will be the moft poweriul Inducement ta 
 Foreigners to. relbrt thither, and which Engli/k- 
 men before they embarked would expedl to be 
 certain of, arifes from his Majefty's paternal 
 Care for the Security of the Liberties and Prcper- 
 tiesofthofe "johoflmll become Inhabitants of thoje Co^ 
 lonies. The Freedom and other Benefits of the 
 Britijh Conftituuon are promifed to them, and 
 Dire5lions given to the Governors (as the Procla- 
 mation declares) in the Letters Patent //y ivhich 
 their refpetiive Goverttments are conjlituted, that fa 
 foon as the State and Circumflajfces of the faid Colo' 
 nies will admit thenpfy theyjhall with the Advice 
 and Ccnfent ef the Alcmbtrs of the Council, fum^ 
 
 msm 
 
( 23 ) 
 
 msn general AJjemhliei^ in the fame Manner as in 
 the other royal Governments \ which Affemblies in 
 concurrence with the Governor and Council^ are to 
 make Laws^ as near as may be agreeable to the Laws 
 of Englandy and under fuch Regulations and Re- 
 firiolions as are ufed in the other Colonies. 
 
 The Circumftances laft mentioned relate 
 equally to the Government of Grenada. The 
 fame Allurances are given, that a Conftitution 
 fimilar to that of Great Britain, (hall be formed 
 there ; and the fame or greater Care is taken 
 to provide for the Security of thofe Iflands i 
 bur in every odier refped:, a Policy, almoft op- 
 pofite to that which is proper for the Acquifi- 
 tions in Atmrica^ muft be obferved towards 
 thofe in the Weji Indies. The charadleriftic Dif- 
 tindtions, between the two Countries, have bcerx 
 taken Notice of already ; and the leaft Reflec- 
 tion upon thofe that have been mentioned, will 
 fatisfy a very curfory Obfcrver, that more is re- 
 quifite than merely to provide Inhabitants for 
 the Iflands, where Property does not confift fo 
 much in Land, as in the Stock that is upon it ; 
 Conditions of Culture are annexed to the Sale> 
 and the ftrongeft Pledge a Man can give of his 
 having Subftance fufficient for fuch a Cultivation, 
 is his advancing Part of that Subltance on the 
 Speculation of the Profits he may make of ic ; 
 for a Purchafer certainly thinks himfelf that he 
 is, and muft probably wiM be found to be equal 
 to the Undertaking ; no Precautions' could have 
 1^1 ad e Grantees equally refponfible to the Pub- 
 lic for the due Improvement of fuch valuable 
 Property. The Obicfts of Acquifition would 
 fcavc been \n realitv Jo great, and in Appearance 
 
 ll 
 
wmm-immm 
 
 111' 
 
 'I ;' 
 
 liil 
 
 ( 24 ) 
 
 Co much gfeater, that all Sorts of Impofitions, 
 Intcreft, and Importunity, would have been 
 ulcd, in order to obtain them i and where thefe 
 had not prevailed, it would ftill have been impof- 
 fible to fix the Proportions of the Allotments to 
 the Abilities of the Petitioners ; which will now 
 be afcertained to fome Degree of Accuracy by 
 the private Intereft of every Purchafer, as he 
 muft fuffcr iiim.elf if he exceeds the Bounds 
 which his Fortune prefcribes to him. But their 
 Numbers would be fmall, if none were aclmit- 
 ted who had not an immediate Command of 
 Money, fufHcient to anfwer all the Demands of 
 fuch Eftates at once : The Buildings, the Ne- 
 groes, the Cattle, and other Stock which arc 
 requifitf., will coll more than the Lands them- 
 felves ; and to enable the Purchafer to furnifh 
 themfelves with thefe, it is neceffary to relieve 
 them m the Payment of the Purchafe Money ; 
 Revenue itfelf is of lefs Confequence to the Pub- 
 lic, even at r'ais Crifis of Diftrefs, than an ef- 
 fectual and fpeedy Settlement of thefe impor- 
 ^-ant Iflands. His Majefty's Proclai ation of 
 the 26th of Manby has therefore declared, that 
 she Lands Jliall be fold by puhlick AutUon, and the 
 PurchaJC' Money Jhall be paid in different Injt ail- 
 ments^ 7 joenty per Cent, immediately at the time 
 of Sale ^ Ten per Cent, within one Tear aftervoards^ 
 Ten per Cent, within the fecond Tear, and Twenty 
 per Cent, within every fucceffive Tear^ until the 
 whole is paid. But fuch an Indulgence would 
 be V/eaknefs, if Compliance with the Terms 
 upon which it is granted, were not rigoroufly 
 tnforcecl ; he who is guiltv of a Breach of them. 
 
 juftly 
 
 11 i 
 
 I 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 1. 
 
 y 
 
 ]u(\.]y fcrfelfs all Right to the Lands: and on that 
 Condition be receives chem. 
 
 Anothier Indulgence is converting part of the 
 Purchale Money into an Annual Quit Rent, the 
 Value of which the JBuyers will dedudl out of 
 the Purchaic Money j and they will thereby, 
 have dill more of their Capital at Liberty, to 
 anfwer the Demand upon them, for Clearing 
 and Stocking their Lands. This Charge too is 
 levied with a Lenity perfedly corrcfponding 
 with the Defign of impofing it ; it is not to be 
 paid on the whole Lot at once ; but is gradually 
 to creep upon it, in proportion as it becomes 
 valuable ; the Quit Rents being declared by the 
 Proclamation not to commence till Twelve 
 Months after the time each Acre fhall be cleared, 
 in conformity to the Condition of Clearing, 
 which I fliall prefently have occafion to men- 
 tion. 
 
 But ftill to enable Men to do Right, is not to 
 oblige them to it : The fame Means may alfo 
 enable them to do Wrong, and then there will 
 be more reafon to expedt an Abufe, than a pro- 
 per Application of the Opportunity. Thus the 
 Indulgences fhcwn to Purchafers with a View to 
 aflift them in improving their Lands, might be 
 perverted to a quite contrary EtFedt, if no fur-* 
 ther Precautions were taken; for the Money 
 thereby left in their Hands, might be and 
 would be frequently employed only in enlarg- 
 ing their Purchafes. All Tendencies to Mono- 
 poly are every where pernicious, unlefs Cir- 
 cumftances make them neceflfary : But in a 
 new Colory they may be fatal ; and mult be 
 detrimental : Too many IniUnces 
 
 many 
 
 fift 
 
 in 
 
 g 
 
mF 
 
 I 
 
 
 % 
 
 ( 26 ) 
 
 ftfling of their mifchievous Effcds occur in fc- 
 veral of the Colonies, where large Trafts of 
 Land, v. hich the publick Benefit requires lliould 
 be cleared and fettled^ are kept back from 
 Sale by the Proprietors, on the profped of their 
 daily becoming more and more valuable : And 
 after this Experience it would have been unpar- 
 donable, not to have provided againft the Evil. 
 The Divifion of the Lands into Allotments of 
 between One Hundred and Five Hundred 
 Acres, to which Dimenfions it appears by the 
 Proclamation they will in general be confined, 
 inuft be a Means of preventing it : As one of 
 the flrongeft Temptations to the extending of 
 Territory, the Temptation of Contiguity, will 
 thereby be often removed : Since a cheap Pur- 
 chafe of one Lot, will not at all fecure an e- 
 qually good Bargain for the next. The Prohi- 
 bition againft any one Man's buying more thani 
 Three Hundred Acres in Dominica^ or than Five 
 Hundred 'r. the other Iflands, will have a ftill 
 greater Erfedl : The Reftri6lion being enforced 
 by the forfeiture of all the Land which he (hall 
 Purchafe beyond thole Numbers, and of the 
 Money he fh ill have advanced for fuch Excefs ; 
 I am not fpeaking of a few Acrea 100 much, by 
 the Miftake of the Surveyor, and unknown to 
 the Purchaler : Thefe cannd^ be liable to For- 
 feiture, for the Crown can never take Advantage 
 of an Error in its own Officer, to fubjed another 
 perlbn to a Penalty : And fuch a Penalty can in 
 no Cafe be extended beyond the fubjedt of the 
 Provifion it is intended to enforce ;^ which Pro- 
 vifion in the prefent Cafe is againft eixceeding a 
 fpecified Number of Acres: And the Excefs, 
 
 therefore 
 
( ^^7 ) 
 
 therefore Is all that can be affedled by the Pe- 
 nalty : But the bed Security of all arifes from 
 the Conditions of Culture : The Proclamation 
 requires that five Acres in every Hundred be 
 cleared, every Year till half th-* Lot is thereby 
 brought into a flate fit for Cultivation : But as 
 Accidents and Difappointments may fometimes 
 make it difficult to comply with this Condition, 
 the Breach of it is not followed by fo rigorous a 
 Punifhmentas Forfeiture: A pecuniary Penalty 
 of Five Pounds every Year for every Acre that 
 is not cleared within the Term prefcribed, is 
 thought fufficient, as, no Man will continue to 
 pay fo mucli annually for ur. profitable Lana^, 
 which he may make valuable by clearing. 
 
 One other Condition is required, which will 
 contribute both to the Improvemeiit and to the 
 Security of the Iflanders : 'ihat rv€ry Purchafer 
 of cleared Lands Jkall conflantly keep upon his Lct^ 
 One iVhite Man, or Two IVhiie JVomen, for every 
 Hundred Acres contained in fuch Lot ; and in de- 
 fault thereof y fhall be jubj(5i to the Payni^Kt of 
 Twenty Founds per annum for every ^■^hitelVanan^ 
 and Forty Pounds for every White Man^ that Jliall 
 he w.nting to compleat the Number. Any one 
 who has the leaft Acquaintance with the J4''cji 
 Indies, is apprized of the Advantages nrifing 
 from White ServantiS bodi for Service and for 
 Security. The onfy Queltion with me is, whe- 
 ther the Penalty be heavy enougli to enforce the 
 Obfervance of the Condition -, for in Anti'ua 
 ;ind Barbadoes, where a like Regulation is eila- 
 bliflied under d Penalty of Forty Pounds cur- 
 rency, that Sum has been found to be ina- 
 dequate : Very few of tb.e Planters have thi^ir 
 
 K full 
 
 Hi 
 
i 
 
 !i- 
 
 ( 28 J 
 
 full Complement -, inftead of providing all, they 
 pay the Penalty for fome, which on every Eftate 
 are conftantly deficient : And this is now got 
 into fo regular a Courfc, as to become a fettled 
 Fund of their Revenue; fo that tint Penalty in- 
 ftead of enforcing the Law, is perverted into a 
 Mode of Taxation : That impofed by the Pro- 
 clamation is indeed to be paid in Sterling Mo- 
 ney, but whether the difference between that and 
 Currency will be great enough, to make the fama 
 Reguladon effeftual in the one, \^hich for want 
 of being more ftrongly enforced, has not been 
 obfcrved in the other Colonies, cannot be deter- 
 mined upon Speculadon, but muft be left to the 
 decifion of Time and Experiment. 
 
 Yet even if it (hould compel all the Planters 
 to keep their proper Number of White Ser- 
 vants, that Number would not amount to fo 
 many White Inhabitants, as the fafety of the 
 Tflands require. The Invitation given to poor 
 Settlers by Grants of from Ten to Thirty Acres, 
 will I hope fupply the Deficiency; and the Ex- 
 pedation is fo far well grounded, that a Policy 
 iimilar to this has made Barbadoes the beft peo- 
 pled Ifland in all the IFeJi Indies. The Planters 
 there are excufed from keeping White Servants, 
 by making fmall Grants to fuch poor Settlers : 
 Two of thefe are deemed equal to Three White 
 Servants ; and by fuch a Subftitution relieve 
 from a Burthen the Eftate which they improve. 
 Tn thefe ceded Iflands the White Servants are 
 retained, and at the fame lime poor Settlers are 
 invited by the Provifion that is made for them : 
 Which i:. fo ample, that they will not long re- 
 gain nuer Cottagers, tho* they may be really 
 
 poor 
 
 lu 
 
( 29 ) 
 
 poor Settlers in their Beginnings. A fmall 
 Number of Acres well improved there, is no 
 inconfiderable Property i tho* it will not raife 
 the Pofleflbrs above the Rank they were born 
 to, it will furnilh them with all the Comforts and 
 Conveniencics which are luitable to their Condi- 
 tion, and with many more than ul'ually belong 
 to it "I Some of rhe Wood they are to clear will 
 probably be of Value to fell •, the reft will fuffice 
 to build their little Tenements, to make their 
 Fences, to furnifh them with a Thoufand con- 
 venient Accomodations, and to fupply all their 
 moderate D<:imands. The Produdis of their 
 fmall Domains will not indeed be thofe by which 
 we are apt too indilcriminately to eftiniate^(/? 
 hdia Eftates : Such Inhabitants as thefe muft 
 not expert to mimick the Opulence of other 
 Planters ; for the Lands allotted to them will 
 hardly be of thofe Soils which are proper for 
 Sugar : But they may raife Coffee, Cocoa, Cot- 
 ton, Ginger and Tobacco ; in procefs of time 
 perhaps fome Indigo; and at all times Provifi- 
 ons : Whatever they raife will all be their own, 
 whatever Improvements they make will be for 
 the Benefit of themfelves and their Families. 
 
 A poor Settler, who has but ten Acres, will 
 find himlelf greatly fuperior to any Engltjli La- 
 bourer; he that has thirty allotted to him, will 
 be equal to many Englijh Farmers ; aud Men of 
 this Rank in Life having fome Stake to lofe, 
 and yet being inured, by their Circumftances, to 
 Hardinefs and Labour, will conftituie a Militia, 
 which may be always relied on, to fupprcfs do- 
 meftic Difturbances among the Negroes, or to 
 repel foreign Invafions ; but thefe Lots are to 
 
 £ 2 be 
 
 m 
 
1 
 
 if 
 
 I 
 
 N ' 
 
 ^ i 30 ) 
 
 he given to thofti only who really mean to refidc: 
 upon them j the Teft of their Intention is their 
 taking adual Pofieflion themfelves, ivithin three 
 Montjis from the Date of ihe Grant, and continu- 
 ing to\occupy and improve the fame, for tvoehe fuc- 
 ceffiva Months. And that they may not be in- 
 duced, by their Poverty, or tempted by an ex- 
 traordinary Price, to difpofe of their PoITelTions, 
 their Lots are unalienable by Salejor Seven Tears ; 
 this Condition is abfolute i even the Governor 
 cannot difpenfe with it ; but he may, by his Li- 
 cence, permit Leafcs or Mortgages to be made 
 of them ; and fuch Leafes and Mortgages may 
 be made without Licence, in order to provide 
 for a Child of the poor Settler. As to his Wife 
 Hie wants no Provifion, till after his Death, and 
 no Reftraint is put upon his D^fpofition by Will; 
 nor do any of thefe Reftridions fubfiit for more 
 than feven Years, in which time, it is to be 
 hoped, fuch Settlers will be fixed, and their 
 Lots will be improved to a Value, which wiH 
 prevent improper Alienations of them to their 
 wealthier Neighbours, who, if not check'd by 
 fuch Precautions, would endeavour to mono-r 
 polize to themfelves, large Trafts of Land, by 
 taking Advantage of the Neceflities of thefe 
 indigent People. 
 
 The Lots being thus fecured to the Perfons 
 for whole Ijfe they are defigned, the only re- 
 maining Care is to fee that they are properly 
 improved •, and for this Purpofe the Proclama- 
 tion declares that Conditions are to be inferted 
 in the Grants, that each Grantee^ being exempted 
 from any Burthens, for four Years, f hall, at 
 the Espiration of that Term^ pay a ^it-Rent of 
 
 m 
 
^rfons 
 J re- 
 perly* 
 
 lama- 
 erted 
 ipted 
 }/, at 
 Hi of 
 
 
 ("31 ) 
 
 Six pence per Acre, for every Acre then cleared^ 
 and a Penalty of two Shillings per Acre, for every 
 Acre of hand uncleared \ which faid Penalty of two 
 Shillings per Acre, Jhall he reduced to Six-pence per 
 Acre, as the hand jhall he cleared. 
 
 Regulations fo wifely adapted to the End of 
 peopling thefe Iflands to a great Degree with 
 white Inhabitants, can hardly mifs of their in- 
 tended Effccfls. And indeed, their Succefs is 
 of the utmoft Importance •, for befides the Ad- 
 vantages, which from thence refiilt, to thefe 
 in common with all Weji India Iflands, it is par- 
 ticularly neccfTary that Numbers of Englijk Pro- 
 teftants fliould be invited thither, efpecially to 
 St, Fincents and Dominica, which would be 
 otherwife more expofed than any Settlements in 
 our Poflcfiion •, for in the former are ftill re- 
 maining, confiderable Tribes o£ Carrihee Indians^ 
 to the Number, it is fuppofed, of about four 
 or five Thouland, and who may be troublefome 
 Enemies, li they are not by proper Attention 
 reconciled to their new Neighbours. Both in 
 St. Vincents and Dominica many French have fet- 
 tled ; and tho' their Pofleflion is not rightful, 
 becaufe it is contrary to Treaty ; yet, fince they 
 are allowed to remain there, it is neceflary that 
 they fliould be out-numb<rred by Inhabitants, 
 who can be more cerrauwy relied on. It is, in- 
 deed, a doubted Queftion, whether their Stay 
 is to be wifhed 5 on the one hand, tho' they arc 
 an Acquifition of Subjefts, yet they are Stran- 
 gers to our Manners, our Government, and 
 our Religion ; and till national Prejudices are 
 removed, cannot be hearty Friends to the Coun- 
 try they now owe Allegiance to : on the other 
 
 hand. 
 
 H' 
 
i:i 
 
 ( 32 ) 
 
 hand, they are there , they have Property -, they 
 have Wealth j they are People, and People will 
 be very much wanted ; tho' their Titles to their 
 IiUlates are bad in their Origin, for the King of 
 France could not grant where he had not Do- 
 minion ; and tho* therefore they cannot juilly 
 claim, yet they may reafonably defire to retain 
 the Lands, which have been cleared by their 
 Labour, and improved with their Subftance ; 
 to infift on their Departure, would be driving 
 them CO St. Lucia, where great Encouragement 
 is given to Settlers ♦, and befides, Humanity re- 
 volts at the Idea of expelling from their Habita- 
 tions, Men hitherto inoffenfive, and who may 
 never be pernicious, if time be allowed them to 
 familiarize themfelves to the Cuftoms and to 
 adopt the Principles of their prefent Fellow-fub- 
 je<5ts. The Experiment at lead (hould be made, 
 and thofe who are inclined to itay (hould not be 
 obliged to go, by being immediately and arbi- 
 trarily {tripped of their Poflefiions ; at the fame 
 time they have no Pretence to expe<fl that the 
 I^ands they wrongfully occupy, fliould be given 
 to them, when the Englijh can acquire no Pro- 
 perty there but by Purchafe. They cannot even 
 require to be at once confidered as Natives of 
 Great Britain^ and to be put on fuch a Footing, 
 that the Government would have no Controul 
 over them, (hould their Difa(Fe6tion defcend to 
 future Gc .erations. For thefe Reafons, I pre- 
 fume, it is, that a middle way is taken between 
 confirming them in, and expelling tii^m from 
 their PolTelTions. 
 
 The Proclamation declares that 'The Lands 
 which at the time of the Surrender of thefe IJlands 
 
 'wcre 
 
( 3S ) 
 
 ^ere^ and fitll are in the Fojfejfton of fuch French 
 Inhabitants^ Jhall be granted to them upon Leafes 
 for abfolute or renewable Terms, upon can* 
 certain Conditions, and under proper Refiri£iions, 
 By accepting this Offer, they will retain their 
 Property, under a better Title than they can pre- 
 tend to now. This is alone a Favour •, and their 
 fubfequent Behaviour may intitle them to greater. 
 What Number will be induced on thefe Condi- 
 tions to continue, it is impofiible to determine, 
 or even to guefs. The two Iflands are faid to 
 contain now about three Thou fand French Inha- 
 bitants, who employ above nine Thoufand Ne- 
 groes i fome will not forfake the Connexions 
 to which they have been habituated, and thefe 
 arc certainly not worth retaining ; others indifFe- 
 jcnt to either Form of Government, will tarry 
 where they are j and many will be fenfible of 
 the Advantages arifing from the Excellence of 
 the Britifh Conftitution, the Security which a 
 Naval Power gives to its Colonies, and the 
 Wealth of a commercial Nation,extending to all 
 its Dependants •, Thefe laft will be as valuable 
 Subjects as the Natives of Great Britain. 
 
 The whole Service of difpofing of the Lands 
 in all thefe Iflands, is to be performed by Com- 
 jnifTioners appointed for that Purpofe* They 
 are to divide each Ifland into Parifhes and Dif- 
 tri(5ts, of fuch Forms and Dimenfions, as the 
 Circumflances of natural Boundaries, Conti- 
 guity and Convenience require. In every Parifli 
 they muft trace out a Town, its Streets, its 
 Market-place, and other public Places, and ihen 
 parcel out the Ground they fhall deftine for 
 Habitations, into proper Allotments to build on. 
 
 To 
 
 . 4 
 
11 
 
 •ssBm 
 
 >i 
 
 i,i' 
 
 
 » 
 
 1^ 
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 To make tlicfc (11)1 more conimodiouSv a fmall 
 I ield is to be annexed to each, and both together 
 to be fold, if the Land be clear'd, upon Condi- 
 tion to pay the Purchafe-money in t|ie fame 
 Manner as is prefcribed to the Pi^rchjjfers of 
 Plantations •, and a Qiiit-Rcnt of one Penny per 
 Foot in Front of each Town Tot, and Six- 
 pence for every Acre of the Field, that accom- 
 panies it i if the Land be uncleared, it is to be 
 granted by the Governor, upon Security given 
 lo builtj to inclofe and to fence, within fuch 
 time as to the Commifiioncrs fhall feem reafona- 
 ble, and to pay the fame Quit-Rent as the others. 
 The Commiflioners are alfo to fet apart fucli 
 Spots as ihall bp deemed proper for Batteries, 
 Forts, and other mihtary Purpofes ; they are to 
 dire<it the Highways from one Town to ano- 
 ther, and to accommodate every Plantation with 
 eafy Means of Accefs. They are to referve to 
 the Crown certain Diftridls of Wood Lands, 
 which by the Damps continually exhaling from 
 them, and the Clouds attracted by them, will 
 furnilli a perpetual Supply of Moifture, to all 
 the neighbouring Country, and prevent the 
 Drought to which Places in that Climate, when 
 too much cleared are frequently liable. Thefe 
 Refervations being made, and a fuitable Num-. 
 ber of Acres alfo appropriated for the Grants 
 which the Governor is to make to poor Settlers, 
 the CommifTioners are to divide the Lands 
 into proper Allotments, and then to advertife, 
 prepare for, and fuperintend the Sale. They 
 ought to be Men of Knowledge, Abilities, 
 and Confidence, in whom fuch a Truft is 
 repofed, to contrive for the Accommodation of 
 a future Colony •, to fix the Habitations, and to 
 
 liirjic 
 
 P '! 
 
 m 
 
(35) 
 
 limit the Eftatcs of the Planters; to aJjiiH pub- 
 lick and private Convenience •, to mix .nc poor 
 Settlers with the rich, for their mutual Advan- 
 tage ; to diftribute to each his proportion of ge- 
 neral Bt-nefit-, and to provide for the Cultivation, 
 the Commerce, and the Proteflion of fuch an im- 
 portant Dominion. This is to be their liberal, 
 but difficult, and perhaps hazardous Employ •, 
 for the Places they are to vifit like all others ir^ 
 that Climate which remain in their natural State, 
 muft to a certain Degree be unhealthy. Si. Vin- 
 cents and Do^jji'nicaf where much is already clear'd, 
 are lefs ib chaa they were i but Tobago is almoft 
 totally uncultivated, and the firftPerfons that go 
 thither would be greatly expofed, if Care were 
 not taken to fecure them from the Inclemency of 
 the Climate : It docs Honour to the Humanity of 
 thofe who provided againft it, by contracting, as 
 the public Advertifements (hew, for one thoufand 
 Ton ot Shipping to be flation'd there for a year, 
 on board of which not only the Surveyors and 
 CommifTioners, but all Perfons whofe Duty callji 
 them thither in a civil or a military Capacity, all 
 who repair thither to view and to purchafe the 
 L ids, and in general the firft Settlers, may, witl* 
 Jhe AfTiftance of the VeiTels which muft occafi- 
 onally lie there, be conveniently accommodated i 
 and every Body knows that the Unhealthinefs of 
 the Climate is confined to the Land ; at Sea, tho* 
 at ever fo fmail a Diftance, the Air is always free 
 from the noxious Vapours, which alone occafion 
 that Sicklinefs and Mortality. 
 
 It is another agreeable Circum.Hance to the 
 Purchafers, that thcCommiirionersarc G^ntlcnKii 
 
 it' 
 
 t' i 
 
 I'' 
 ? 
 
f,p;; 
 
 Ml 
 
 (36) 
 
 dF fuch Charaders, as leave no Reafon to apprtf^ 
 hcnd that the Power refervcd to the Crown of revo- 
 king their Afts, will ever be exercifed, tho* former 
 Abufesfuggefted fuch a general Precaution, asane- 
 ceffary Controul over their Conduft. Under them 
 I doubt not the Sales will be equitably made, 
 and the Public will avail itfelf of the Fairnefs of 
 their Proceedings ; for his Majefty, bcfides con- 
 tributing out of the Duties belonging to him in 
 the new Acquifitions, towards the Support of 
 their civil Kttablilhments, has b.^en gracioufly 
 pleafed to give the Money arifing from thefe Sales 
 to the Ufe of the Public : No Conjefture can as 
 yet I fuppofe be form'd of its Amount. Accident, 
 Caprice, Plenty or Scarcity of Money at the Time, 
 and a thoufand other Circumftances, will make 
 it greater or lefs ; but at all Events the Purchafe 
 Money of fo large a Quantity of Land fo valu- 
 able, cannot be inconfiderable. - Tobag9 and Sf. 
 yincent's are reckon'd to be each of ^hem as large 
 SiS Barl>adoes, and Dominica much hrgcr ; Some 
 Parts of Grenada too will come to Sale, which 
 were never granted by the Kingof Fr^w^^, or the 
 Grants of which have been forfeited on Failute 
 of complying with the Conditions annexed to 
 them : The whole of the new Acquifitions are to- 
 gether of a greater Extent than all our former Pof- 
 fefllons in the fVeft- Indies, excluf Ve oi Jamaica^ 
 and are faid to contain between five and fix thou- 
 fand Acres : Of thefe indeed a great part, parti- 
 cularly in Dominica, is mountainous Ground, of 
 little Value for Sale ; tho' of ineflimable Import- 
 ance to the adjacent Country, for which it pre- 
 fer ves the Seafons, fends forth Rivers, and affords 
 
 the 
 
the 
 ute 
 to 
 to- 
 of- 
 
 of 
 ort- 
 
 )rds 
 the 
 
 (37) 
 
 the means of Defence j but ftill a great Propor- 
 tion of the whole is as rich a Soil as any in the 
 H^eJl-IndieSy and being frelh Land, it will require 
 Jefs Expence, and at the fame Time yield Crops far 
 more luxuriant, than the utmolt efforts of Cul- 
 ture can produce from an old Plantation : and 
 tho* it cannot be bi ought to Perfeftion as Sugar 
 Land, without a great Stock of Negroes and a 
 confiderable Charge in building, in preparing the 
 Ground, and other Articles ; yet at a very mo- 
 derate Expence and in a very fhort time, it may 
 be made .it for raifing Ginger, Cotton, Cocoa, 
 Coffee, Indigo, and other Commodities, which 
 will amply compenfale the Purchafers for the Mo- 
 ney they may have expended, and will moreover 
 fupply them with a Fund for the further Improve- 
 ment of their Effates, *till they gradually become 
 thoroughly ftock*d, and in every Refpedl well 
 appointed Sugar Plantations; which the Owners 
 will then find they have acquired for a much lefs 
 Sum upon the whole, than they muil: ha^c given 
 for one of equal Income in any other Ifland ; and 
 that Money too advanced at different Times and 
 according to their own Convenience. But befides 
 this general Advantage, each Ifland has fome pe- 
 culiar Circumftance to recommend it: The Si- 
 tuations oi Grenada andTobago will give their In- 
 habitants Opportunities to carry on a mod profi- 
 table Trade with the Spanijh Main: The former 
 is befides poffeffed of two excellent Harbours, 
 capable of containing any Number of Ships of 
 any Burthen, and is ncVer expofed to Hurricanes : 
 It is already fo far cultivated as to produce about 
 10,000 HogHieads of Sugar, 3,500,0001b. of 
 
 F 2 Coftce, 
 
 
111 
 
 11^ 
 
 ir 
 
 (38 ) 
 
 C iffecj and 200,000 lb. of Cocoa, bcHdes Comt 
 Cotton and Ihdigo. 
 
 Tobago is reprelented as one of the fineft Ifland* 
 in the IVeJi-Indies^ and of fuch a Surface that a 
 very fmall if any Part of it is unfit for Cultivation. 
 
 St. Vincents is more hilly, but the cultivable' 
 Land is excellent, and fo much I3 already clear'd 
 as to yield it is rcckon'd about 40000/. annually ; 
 yet this is but a very fmall Proportion of the cul- 
 tivable Land in uie Ifland . Scill more is clear'd 
 in Dominicay whofe prtfent Produce is valued at 
 near double tha: Sum v but the mod material Ad- 
 vantage is Prince Rupert's Bay, whicii is capable 
 of receivinrg and fheiterinp; the larged Ships, and 
 which will certainly be the principal Station of 
 the BritiJ/j Fleet in all fubfequent Wa,rs» on Ac- 
 count of the Situation of the Idand. It lies be-» 
 tween Martlnico and Guadaloupe, and its Cruifers 
 can always intercept the whole French Trade, be- 
 tween thofe their principal Settlements : It is c- 
 qually convenient for protecting the Britijh L 
 Hands againft the Depredations of Privateers, or 
 more formidable Attacks : It is Itfelf naturally 
 flrong, full of Pofts, Defiles, Gullies, Rivers, 
 and Precipices, and particular Attention is Ihewn 
 in his Majelly's Proclamation to the Peculiarity 
 of its Situation, by dire(^ing that the- 1 ,ots which 
 in the othT Iflands are in general to contain from 
 one to three hundred, with fome few of five hun* 
 dred Acres, fhall in this be for the mod Part con- 
 fined to between fifty and an hundred, but /hall 
 never exceed three hundred Acres : By which Pro- 
 vjfion a greater Number of Whites will be fettlc(J 
 there than if the Lauds were divided lAto larger 
 
 Flar- 
 
 I ^ 
 
 I 
 
 s 
 
(39) 
 
 Plantations, and Dominica will not only at fecure 
 in itfclf, but formidable both to Martirdco and 
 Guadaloupe. AH thcfe Circumftances of Advan- 
 tage belonging to the ceded Iflands in general, 
 and to each in particular being confidcr'd ; and 
 not only unclear'd Lands, but great Quantities 
 which have been clear'd, and-beiong*d to French 
 Inhabitants who have left or will leave them, or 
 to religious Communities, who cannot be allow'd 
 to hold them by Lcafe or in any Manner what* 
 foever, being to be fold ; his Majefty's gracious 
 Gift to the Public will appear to be an Obje^ 
 worthy of his Generofity, and of the Gratitude 
 of his People. 
 
 The ievcral Steps above-mention'd with Re- 
 fpeft to the Settlement of our new Acquifitions, 
 both in America and the Weji-Indies^ feem to me 
 to have been fo judicioufly taken, that in all Pro- 
 bability thefe Acceflions to the Britijh Dominion, 
 will in a few Years be peopled, cultivated, and 
 jn every Refpeft in the fame Situation as ourfor- 
 JXitv Pofleflions. They will be incorporated into 
 the general Syftem or the Britijh Colonies, be 
 afFefted by the fame Circum!(lances, and the Ob- 
 jcfts of the fame Regulations. Their great In- 
 tercfts too will be the fame, and thofe arealfo the 
 deareft Interefts of Great Prilain \ for to imagine 
 that they can ever be feparated, much lefs that 
 they can ftand in Competition, is a narrow, fuper- 
 ficial Idea. The BriliJIi Empire in Europe and in 
 America is (till thefamcPower : Its Subjc5tsin both 
 are (till the fame People ; and all equally parti- 
 cipate in the Adverfity or Profperity of the whole. 
 Partial Advantages that oppofed the general Good, 
 
 would 
 
;!: 1 
 
 la 
 
 I 
 
 ill 
 
 ' 
 
 I 
 
 ( 40 ) 
 
 would finally be detiimental to the Particulars who 
 enjoyed them : The Mother Country would fuffer, 
 if fhe tyrannized over her Colonies : The Colo- 
 nies would declinf, if they diftrefled their Mother 
 Country -,, for each is equally important to the 
 other, and mutual Benefits, mutual Neceffity ce- 
 ment their Connexion. It is an indifputable Con- 
 fequence of their being thus one Nation, that they 
 muft be govern'd by the fame lupreme Autho- 
 rity, be fubjed to one executive Power in the 
 King, to one legiflative Power in the Parliament 
 of Great -Britain. Th^ir Connexion would other- 
 wife be an Alliance, not a Union ; and they would 
 bqf no longer one State, but a Confederacy of 
 many : Local Purpofes may indeed be provided 
 for by local Powers, but general Provifions can 
 only be made by a Council that has general Au- 
 thority i that Authority veiled by indefcafabic 
 right in Parliament over all the Subjedts of Great- 
 Britain, whercfoeverrefident in the Britijh Domi- 
 nions, and iO which it is Rebellion to refule Obe- 
 dience, for Parliament has never exempted any 
 from the Submiffion they owe to it, and no other 
 Power can grant fuch an Exemption, appears 
 from hence «.o be founded not only upon juft 
 Right, but upon abfolute Neceflj'y. It has been 
 accordingly aflerted and exerciftd without Inter- 
 ruption from the Time that the Colonies became 
 Objeds of Attention ; and muft always fubfift for 
 the enabling of fuch Laws as relate to the wi^ole, 
 and even for controuling any particular Ads of 
 local delegated Powers, which may contradict the 
 general Welfare. 
 
 The 
 
(41 } 
 
 The Necefilty of fuch a Supenntendan6e, iti 
 order to prevent the Abufe of local tho* It^gal 
 Authority, was proved by an Inftance, which was 
 under the Confideration of Parliament, during 
 the laft Seflions. The extravagant Encreafc of 
 Paper Money in fome Colonies, had ruin'd the 
 Credit of thofe where it was {o multiplied, had 
 embarrafled their Dealings with the neighbouring 
 Provinces, and was deftrudive to the Britijh Mer- 
 chants who traded to America. Thefe Bills were 
 iffued from Time to Time, upon Loans, as the 
 Services of the Year, the Exigencies of the Go- 
 vernment, or the Pretence of either, required. 
 Funds were at the fame time created, fometime« 
 of Land, and fometimes of Taxes, for the Pay- 
 ment not only of the Intereft: annually, but of the 
 Principal alio at the End or during the Conti- 
 nuance of the Terms, for which they v;cre created: 
 But generally the Funds proved deficient, and the 
 Bills confequently funk in Value : This however 
 was the leaft of the Evils occafionM hy their Pa- 
 per Currency : Had their Difcount Ilop*d here, 
 it might have been born, or a Remedy might 
 have been, as it ought to have been, applied, by 
 creatir-g additional Funds; but the contiary Mea- 
 fure vi-a adopted : The Terms were prolong*d, 
 liv" > .. ^ilU were ifllied on Funds deficient already, 
 w'ole Credit was hereby ftill further depre- 
 force thefe Bills into Currency, they 
 tnder, and that comi 
 
 arc 
 
 ciated 
 
 were made a legal 
 
 iph 
 
 the Mifchief, Pubiick Credit was ruined, lor the 
 Payment of its Debts was poftponed beyond the 
 
 Time limited for difch 
 
 argm< 
 
 th 
 
 em : or made m 
 
 Bills ft funk, in Value, as not to be equal to i 
 
( 40 
 
 fifth, br even In fome Cafes to a tenth, of the 
 Sterling Money advanc'd by the Creditors : Pri- 
 vate TranfaiEtions were at the fame Time equally 
 jaflTcded t No Man knew what he fhould receive 
 upon Payments to be made at any diftant Time : 
 All Contrafts became uncertain j all Returns in 
 Trade precarious \ while the few Perfons who 
 concerted thefe Meafures, had frequent Oppor- 
 tunities of making a private Advantage of the 
 pUblick Calamity. From them whp had caiifed 
 the Evil, a Remedy could not be expelled : It 
 was tl.<;tr Influ T:e that had led to j^^s, Ordsrt, 
 Refolutions, ana , f of Ajfembly, making and de- 
 claring ftuh Bills i^ i le^al Tender in 'Payments of 
 Money. The Interpofition of the Parliament of 
 Great-Britain therefore became necelTary ; it had 
 interfer*d before with Refpcift to the four New^ 
 England Governments, and by a falutary A(5l 
 made in 24 Geo. II. to regulate and reftrain Paper 
 Bills in tbofe Colonies^ the Credit of fuch Bills was 
 retriev'd, and their Currency fettled. To check 
 the fame Abufes in all the other Colonies, and to 
 diffufe the Benefits of the like Provifions overall 
 the Britijh Dominions, an A6t was pafled during 
 the laft Seflions, by which, fuch Proceedings as 
 have been above- mention'd, arc ftriftly prohibited 
 in all the Colonies, and every A^^ Order ^ Refo* 
 htion^ or Vote of AJfembly ivhich Jhall be made to 
 prolong the legal Tender of any fuch Bills now fub- 
 Jijiing and currents beyond the Times fixt for difchar' 
 ging the fame ; or to create or iffue Paper Bills of 
 Kind or Denomination^ declaring them to be legal 
 _ enaer in Payment of any Bargains^ Contra^s, Debts^ 
 DtieSi or Demands wbatfoevcr^ is declared to be 
 
 null 
 
( 43 ) 
 
 f!uli and void. By which vigorous and feafonable 
 Exertion of lupreme Authority, this enormous 
 Abiifc will be prevented for the future, and the 
 Bills iffued by the Government there, being char- 
 ged upon adequate Funds, and fupported by pub- 
 lick Faith, will preferve their proper Value, du- 
 ring the v;holc Time of their Circulaiicnj no 
 Perfon being obl'ged from henceforth to take de- 
 preciated Money in Payment, the Creditors of the 
 pubiick will receive as much as they advanced, 
 and thofe to whom Debts are ov.ing en private 
 Tranfadtions will really reco^'cr the whole that is 
 due to them. 
 
 But without recurring to inflances of Mif- 
 conduct in the general Affemblics of certain 
 Colonies, it is certain that however enlarged 
 their Views may be, however upright their In- 
 tentions, yet their Powers mult frequently fail 
 in great and extend ve Operations j confined as 
 they are within the Limits of their refpedlive 
 Provinces, they can never attempt any Mea- 
 fures, which depend for their Succefs upon the 
 concurrence of others j much lefs will they ven- 
 ture to facrifice their own partial Advantages 
 to the genera] good, when they cannot be fure 
 that their Conceflions will obtain the Ends for 
 which they were intended. The Parliament of 
 Great Britain alone can command the Acquief- 
 cence of all, and is therefore alone able to de* 
 vife, condu6l, and execute fuch Meafures, as 
 equally relate to all. This Power it has at all 
 limes exercifcd with impartial Sway, and has 
 extended its parental Care to every part of the 
 Brilijh Dominions •, as each has on different Oc- 
 cafions particularly called for its Attention. No 
 
 G Pre. 
 
 i 
 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 Preference, no Privilege, no Exemption is al- 
 lowed to any, not even to Great Britain^ when 
 her particular Interells feem incompatible with 
 this greater Syftem : She has frequently engaged 
 in the Defence of her moft dillant Dominions, 
 with more alacrity than the Provinces themlclves 
 that were immcdiatclv attacked: lier Debtg 
 have been accumulated by the Protedion fhe 
 has afforded her Colonies in times of War; her 
 Revenues have been freely applied in times of 
 Peace, in Bounces and nui-nberlefs other Ex- 
 pences for their Encouragement and Support : 
 She hns even checked her own Cultivation fo^r 
 the Advancement ofthei'rs, as in the inftan' ->f 
 Tobacco, which becaufe it is a flaple Commc, '^y 
 of fome of the Colonies, is prohibited to be 
 raifed in this Country, except in fmall Quanti- 
 ties, and for particular purpofes. But the Prin- 
 ciples are great, the Policy is right, upon which 
 this conduct is founded : The prevalence of 
 thefe Principles at prefent is theilkiftrious Cha- 
 rafteriitic of the Times : No period of our 
 Hiftory can within the fame com pafs boalt of fo 
 many Meafurcs, with rei;ard to the Colonies, 
 founded upon Knowledge, formed witii Judg- 
 ment, and executed with Vigour, as have difnn- 
 guifhed the beginning of his Majefty's Reign. 
 The glorious Peace that ufhered it in fo aulpici- 
 oufly to his People, is a heap of Conceffions 
 forced from our Enemies, in favour of the Bri- 
 //^Plantations. The Tranquility itprocuredus 
 has been employed in improving the Advanta- 
 ges both of our new and c^i' former Pofitfiions: 
 In the profecution of which great Work, the 
 true Principles of Commerce have been atten- 
 ded 
 
 ( 
 
 I 
 1 
 
 I 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 7 
 
 be 
 
 ' if 
 c. 
 o 
 lanti- 
 
 vhich 
 e of 
 Cha- 
 our 
 of lb 
 )nies, 
 udg- 
 (lin- 
 cign. 
 pici- 
 (iior.* 
 Bri- 
 ed us 
 anta- 
 lons ; 
 the 
 t ten- 
 ded 
 
 tl^d to with fo much difcernment and care ; the 
 Jnterefts of the Mother Country and thofe of 
 the Colonies have been blended with fo much 
 fkill ; and their Union has been Itrengthened by 
 fo many Bonds of Connexion, Obligation and 
 Advantage ; that every good Subject, whether 
 in Europe or in America, mull" wifh fuccefs and 
 liability L >! Mcafures, fo wifely, fo impartially 
 adapted to the Benefit of all; 
 
 Ihe Alteration made in the Duty upon Beaver 
 Skins is one of thefe Meafures, and one that is 
 cf great Conlequence to a very valuable Article 
 of American Fruduce, and to a confiderable 
 Branch of Britijh Manufadlure : That Commo- 
 dity is abiblutely necefiary to the making of fine 
 Hats; no other Material can fupply tlie want 
 of it; and as the Animal is not to be found in 
 Iny other part of the World but North America^ 
 the Reduction of Canada has given us the entire 
 Monopoly of it. The Acquifition has been 
 made moll feafonably for the prcfervation of the 
 Manufadure of Hats, which had been long de- 
 clining, and would perhaps in a ^w Years have 
 been totally loft as an article of Exportation : 
 For our Neighbours can generally underwork 
 us ; and if they can be furniflved with tl^ raw 
 Materials upon the fame Terms, will always be 
 able to undt,*rfell us : Yet the Duty upon BeavtT 
 was l.'.id on in fuch a manner, that they were 
 fupplied with the Material thro' Great Britain^ 
 at a cheaper Rare than we could retain it for our 
 own Conilimption : Seven-pence was impofed 
 upon every Skin imported from America^ and a 
 Drawback of Four-pence was allowed upon Ex- 
 portation : Thofe that were uled here wt 
 
 G2 
 
 by 
 this 
 
 '■A 
 
( 46 ) 
 
 tMs TTiians charged with Three-pence per Skin 
 ..i'^'-e, than other Nations paid, when iupplied 
 "ro hence •, and the natural Confcquence muft 
 be t.ic Encouragement of their Manufa<5toiy to 
 the prejudice of our own. In fadl, the French 
 had gradually gained upon us in every Market: 
 The Manufadlory was thriving in Portugal, and 
 there was great reafon to apprehend that it would 
 foon be eltablifhed in Spain, while our own 
 Exportation of Hats was reduced above one 
 halfin Ten Years : That this great Diminution 
 was net occafioned by a decreafe in the Confump- 
 tion, but only by a Change of the hands that 
 v/ere to fupply it, appeared from the Exports of 
 the Skins bein^ now even greater than the Im- 
 ports, of which they ufcd to be only one Half, 
 tho* the Imports were encreafed from little more 
 than 62,000, in the Year 1750, to above 
 128^000, in the Year 1763: Smuggling in- 
 wards fupplied the Excefs of the Exports over 
 the Imports, and the number of Skins fent a- 
 broad laft Year was io large, that had they been 
 made into Hats here, thofe Hats would have 
 produced to the Nation Sixty or Seventy Thou- 
 fand Pounds more than the Skins fold for. To 
 remedy thefe Evils, an A<5t was paflfcd during 
 the lafi Seffions, whereby the Duty is transferred 
 from the. Importation to the Exportation of Bea- 
 ver Skins : A Penny only of the former Seven- 
 pence is retained upon thofe Imported, in or- 
 der to bring all to a regular Entry, and to be a 
 Check upon the Trade, from whence a Judg- 
 ment may at any time be formed of the St:ite ic 
 is in And '^tveri-pcnce is on the other hand 
 impofcd upon every Skin that fliall be exported, 
 
 Tho 
 
( 47 ) 
 
 The Remedy Is fimple, and therefore the more 
 likely to Ic effedual ; but if the Six-pence 
 which Foreigners muft pay for every Skin they 
 ufe in Addition to its Purchafe here, does not 
 turn the Scale in our favour, a (till heavier Bur- 
 then muft be impofed •, and the Duty certainly 
 will then, it may now be the means of reco- 
 vering and improving a confiderable Manufiic- 
 ture almoft loft j at the lame time that a Reve- 
 nue is raifed upon theConfumption of Foreign- 
 ers, who are abfolutely dependant upon us for 
 their Supply ; and our colonies arc alfo relieved 
 in a material Article of their Produce. 
 
 The Indulgence fliewn to them in taking off 
 the Duty upon Whale Fins, is of ftill greater 
 Gonfequence to America, and would be thought 
 a Sacrihcc of the Interefts of Great- Britain to 
 thole of the Colonies, if (he could confider them 
 as diftinft and independent of each othen The 
 Whale Fifliery has been long the Obje6t of public 
 Attention, and many Provifions have at different 
 Times been made for the Recovery of it from the 
 Dutch, for our own Confumption at lea(t, which 
 to our great Difgrace and Detriment,^ ufed to be 
 entirely and has even till now been partially fup- 
 plicd from Holland. For this Purpofe the Ri- 
 gour of the Adl of Navigation was relaxed, and 
 the Trade laid open to all the Inhabitants of 
 England , whether Natives or Foreigners, free of 
 Cuftom by 25 Car, II. c. 6. but by the fame Ad 
 Fifty Shillings per Ton is impofed on Whale Fins 
 caught by Ships belonging to the Plantations, 
 unleis the fame be imported by Ships belong- 
 ing to Efigb.nd, m which Cafe it is reduced to 
 'J^wmiy five Shillings per Ton. 'i'his Duty cali'd 
 
 the 
 
 ni 
 
 
 :■ Ih ' 
 
 
 m 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 (4') 
 
 the old Subfldy is no very great Rjrthcn, as a 
 Ton of Whale Bone may fairly be cllimated upon 
 an Average at 250 1. but a her.vier Impofition of 
 ^lireS'pence ftr Pound weight was laid on by 1 1 
 and 12 W. III. c. 21. upon all Whale Fins im- 
 ported, which entirely ruin'd the FiHiery, and 
 made it ncceflary firfl by 10 G.I. c. 12. and 
 afterwards by 5G. II. c. 28, continued by fcve- 
 ral lliblequenc A(5ts, to take off the Duty ; bue 
 this Relief was confined to fuch as fhould be 
 caught in the Greenland 5V^.", Davis's Stre/'ghls, 
 c tke Seas adjoi-ing thereto. The v.'hole Burthen 
 ftill continued upon the ///^/tfnV^??; Fifhery, whiclt 
 indeed was at that time too inconfidcrable an Ob- 
 je(fl to attrad the paiblick Koti<-e, and on the 
 lame Account was not included in the Encou- 
 ragement which was afterwards aiven to the 
 Greenland Whale Fifliery : for the merely freeing 
 it from Duty, being jinfufficient to cftablifli it, 
 the Alliftance of Bounties was applied ; firfl: of 
 "Tiventy Shillings for every Ton of Shipping em- 
 ployed therein, by 6 G. If. c. 23, and afterwards 
 of Forty Shillings p-'r Ton, by 22 G. II. c. 4. by 
 which Encouragement, the Purpofes of all theft: 
 Endeavours were at laft in a great Meafure an- 
 fwered, and the Britijh Whale Filhery began to 
 cope with the Dutc/iy or at lealt to intrench on 
 their Monopoly. The Price of Hone has in Con- 
 fequence thereof been reduced from 700 1. to 
 2 jO 1. per Ton, and that of Od from 20 1. to 16 
 per Ton. The Oil w^ procured hab generally 
 been equal to our own Confumption, and fomc- 
 times foreign Markets have been fuj'plied out of 
 €ur Abundance •, but we have never been able to 
 provide ourfeives with a fufHcient Qtiantity of 
 
 Bone. 
 
( 49 ) 
 
 Bone : Between fixty and feventyTon having (lill 
 been annually imported from lloiland^ which at 
 the loweft valuation miifl: bereckon'd 16000/. or 
 1 7000 1. per An>Hwu In this .State of the Trndc 
 the Guluh of St. Lnvjreiue becomes l-*ait ot the 
 Brtji/fj Duniinions, and a great Whalc-Fifhcry 
 is difcover'd there, which was perhaps unknown 
 to its iarmer PoiTeflbrs : The induftry of the 
 /imerkayis has improv'd it fo much, that troin 
 7 Cwt. o qrs, ly lb. of Bone, which was all they 
 imported in 1759, they in 1762 iciit hither 
 3 35 C. 2 qrs. 5 Ih. and in 1 763, 1 546 C. 3 qrs. 1 3//^ 
 iind this rapid Progrefs has been made under the 
 Prcflfure of a heavy Duty, Vv'hile at the fame Time, 
 the Uival Trade to GrcenhiKd was fupported by 
 a very liberal Bounty. But the Inequality is now 
 removed, and an Adi was pafs'd during the laft 
 SefTions, by which all Duties are taken olr from 
 Whale Fins imported from Jmcrha, except the 
 light Charge of the old Subfidy. The Bounty 
 upon the Greenlaid Fifliery is indeed continued 
 .by another Acl 'ill the Year 176H, but it vvill 
 not be long or often demanded ; lor the American 
 Whale Fifliery now freed from its Burthen, will 
 . Jbon totally overpower the other, and this In- 
 dulgence can therefore only be meant in Favour" 
 of the Parties who have hitherto been concerned 
 in the latter, and who are intitkd to the iAfTift- 
 ance of the Publick to enable them to retire gra- 
 . dually, inftcad of being forced to an abrupt De- 
 termination of a Tn'de, which was beneficial, 
 tho* it is now become ufelefs to the State. A Year 
 or two more will entirely put an End to •:•, and 
 rhat in the Gulph of Si, Laurence will immcdi- 
 i^ely furnilh as much as was ever brought hither 
 
 trom 
 

 ( so ) 
 
 from Greenland,, ^nd probably far more ; (b as not 
 only to make any Supply from Holland unnecef- 
 fary, but to enable us in Procefs of Time to fell 
 at foreign Markets upon cheaper Terms than thofe 
 who fetch the Commodity from Greenland can af- 
 ford it •, for the American Whale Fifhery being 
 carried on in Seas little encumber*d with Ice, and 
 confc^uently requiring fewer Precautions in the 
 Conftrudiion and Equipment of the Ships, and 
 in the Choice and the Number of the Crewj being 
 open for a much long^'" Seafon; and at all Times 
 lefs liable to Accidents, Difappointments, and 
 LofTes than the other; and the Ships employ'd in 
 it having Opportunities to make Returns both 
 "Ways in their Voyages*, with all thcfe Advan- 
 tages, it muft necefllirily in Time prevail over 
 that which has hitherto flourifli'd only becaufc 
 there was no other : but whatever may be the 
 Event upon this Speculation, fhould our own 
 Confumption alone be fupplied, even in that con- 
 fined View it was right: to prefer the American to 
 the Britijli Whale Fifhery. Tho* we refign a va- 
 luable Branch of Trade in their Favour, a Trade 
 "whofe Produce may be valued at Three Hundred 
 fthoufand Pounds a YGUr, and in which three thou- 
 fand Seamen, befides a great Number of Ship- 
 wrights, and other Artificers were employ'd; yet 
 the Preference is given upon truly national Confi- 
 dcrations, when the Inhabitants of America and of 
 Europe are look'd upon as one People : It then be- 
 comes a general Benefit to promote that Fifliery 
 which has lb many Advantages over the other -, 
 and which will maintain itfelf without the Sup- 
 
 , port of Bounties, the Expence of which v/as near 
 
 \ thirty thcufand Vounds per Anv.unu 
 "^ ' Tho» 
 
 
( 51 ) 
 
 Tho' this AccelTion to the Whale Fifhcry, that 
 cf Seals and Ssa Cows> the Monopoly of Beaver, 
 and many other important Branches of Com- 
 merce, are particularly Parts of our new Acqui-s 
 fitions, yet the Profits arifingfrom them, and th^ 
 Benefits refulting from the Encouragement given 
 to them, arc by no Means confined to the Inha* 
 bitants of the newly acquired Territories : Other 
 Colonies will enjoy ^n equal, fomc a greater Ihare: 
 The Beaver,for Inftance, is not theProduce of C^i- 
 nada alone, and the Vent of it only down the Ri- 
 ver St, Laurence ; but the Redudion of Canada 
 having opcn'd our Communication with all the 
 Countries where it is produced j it may now be 
 brought over the Lakes> and down the Rivers, to 
 Ncw-Englandf New-TorKy and perhaps to ftill 
 more Southern Colonies ; whofc Merchants will 
 enrich themlHves with the Spoils of Defarts, they 
 'lardly knew before. The Whale Fiflicry feems 
 indeed more local, but even that will be carried 
 on by Ships fent from Ports far diftant from the 
 Gulph of St. Lntirericey and a great Part of the 
 Coaft of North- America will be engaged in fo be- 
 neficial an Adventure : By them it has been in« 
 creas'd to its prefent Extent, for the Inhabitanfi 
 of the Shores of the Gulph evidently cannon 
 have been fufficient for what has been done 
 already. But even thofc who^ are too far re- 
 moved to be immediately adive in the Filhe- 
 ry itfelf, will be fenfible of its Effefbs, 'and par- 
 take of the Generofity of Great Britain. The 
 Profits of the Colonies that are engaged in it, will 
 circulate thro* all the others, from whom they will 
 demand, as their Wealth and their Inhabitants in- 
 creafe, larger Supplies of the (Commodities which 
 they do not produce themfelves •, for hardly any 
 
 H * one 
 
 • «i 
 
n 
 
 " 
 
 
 ( 50 
 
 one of the Plantations can pretend to furnlfli all 
 the Neceflaries, none all the Conveniencies of 
 Life-, and tor the Superfluities, the richett anc? 
 mod fruitful mud fetch them from many and from 
 diflant Qiiarters. Each has its feveral Staple ; 
 each its leveral Delicacies j which by their con- 
 ftant Intercourfe are freely communicated from 
 the one to the other •, but throng to thofc Marts, 
 to which large Demands, and quick Returns, or 
 in one Word, Riches invite them. Trade thus 
 diffufing over the whole, the Profperity of every 
 Part, not only adjacent Provinces, but the moflr 
 dittant, thofe apparently mod oppofite, even the 
 JVeJl-Indhs and North-America, mutually partici- 
 pate in the Advances they each of diem make in 
 rheir particular Branches of Culture and of Com- 
 merce. Great -Britain herfelf enjoys, and both itr 
 Trade and in Strength feels herfelf benefited by 
 the Wflfare of every particular Colony. How- 
 much more mud the Colonies, which are as neaf 
 in Affinity, and fo much nearer in Neighbour- 
 hood, interchangeably contribute to the Advan- 
 tage cf each other ? 
 
 In this View the Indulgence ihewn to Caro^ifta- 
 and Georgia, with Refpedl to the Exportation of 
 K ice, which at firf; Sigiit may (eem entirely lo- 
 cal,, if traced thro' aU its didant FfFe<^2, will ap- 
 pear to be a general ^er.etit : Rice being an enu- 
 mcrated Commodity could not be carried from 
 the Place of its Growth, iinlefs to fome other 
 EriliJIi Plantation, or to the Kingdom of Greaf" 
 Britain: but the Rigour of this Rcdrisflion has- 
 been relaxed, and by 3 Geo. II. c. 28. and 27 
 Geo. II. c. 18, it is allowed to be carried dire(5tly 
 from the Plantations, to any Parr oi Europe lying 
 
 Southward' 
 
 il|H|i9WEldH| 
 
ion of 
 ly lo- 
 ll ap- 
 enu- 
 from- 
 other 
 Great' 
 n has- 
 nd 27 
 redly 
 lyin^ 
 
 ( 53 ) 
 
 Southward o?Cape Finijlerre ; the Charge of dou- 
 ble Freight being thus taken off, Spam and Por- 
 tugal who ufed to bring all their Rice from the 
 Levant^ rv.xeive it now from our Colonies, and 
 conlu ne 20000 Barrels every Year, The half 
 Subfidy upon it yields fome Revenue ; the Bulki- 
 rtefs of the Commodity employs a great Quan- 
 tity of Shipping •, and the Demand for it has been 
 one great Means of railing Carolina to its prefent 
 flourifhing Condition. But furely every Reafon 
 that could fuggert rhe grunting this Permifiion 
 with refpefl to any part of Europe^ urges the- 
 Propriety of extending it to Foreign Flantati- 
 ons i for tho' Rice be a very defireable Food in 
 fuch Climates, it is not abfoluteiy necvrfTary; 
 the want ol it may be fupplied by other kinds 
 o\ Vegetable Provifions : And the Vent there-- 
 fore will depend upon the Cheapnefs, If the 
 Voyage round by England can be faved, and the. 
 Commodity thereby afforded on reafonsblei 
 Terms, ^art Quantities may be difpofed of 
 amongd the foreign Plantations ; tor in the fliort 
 time t';jt Guardalupe and Martinico were in our 
 Polffn on, 14,000 Barrels were confumed there ; 
 and an AppHcation was made laft Winter for a 
 Cuntrjd tu deliver 40,000 Barrels in three Years 
 at Cayjme, v/hich could not be complied with,, 
 unlel's fome Alteration were maue in the Law 5 
 the Ir.nch too are not the only Purchafers that 
 may be expected ; other Nations will be defirous 
 of pr(;curing Rice tor their Settlements fronfi 
 the fam.e Qiiarter, and the Negroes in all thefe . 
 Settlements Will rake off the Broken and Mow-^. 
 burnt Rice, which will make the good Rice . 
 6:Ueuper, and is one Advantage that a l^/eji 
 
 H 2 hi^td 
 
( 54 ) 
 
 Itulia Market for this kind of Provifions has o- 
 ver an European. To allow therefore of its im- 
 mediate Exportation thither from the places of 
 its Giowth, will be a great Encouragement to 
 a Staple Commodity of two of our Colonies : 
 An^ the meafure is adopted, not upon Specula- 
 tion, but on a certainty : We have no Experi- 
 ment to make; we are only to accept of an In- 
 vitation, and a new Branch of Gbmmerce is ob- 
 tained : an Improvement will at the fame time 
 be made in the American Revenue, for the A6t 
 of the laft Seflions which grants the Liberty of 
 Exporting Ricfifrom .South -Carolina and Georgia 
 to any part <?/ America to the Soiithivard of thofe 
 Provinces^ retains the half Subfidy, which a- 
 mounts to about Seven-pence upon every Hun- 
 dred Weight of Rice thus exported, and is 
 the fame Duty as is paid upon that which is 
 carried diredly to the Southward of Cape Finif- 
 terre^ or being brought to Great Britain^ is Ex- 
 ported from hence to any other Country. 
 /"Other Commodities, the Produce of the Co- 
 lonies, but of Hill greater and more extenfive 
 Importance, both to the Colonies and to Great 
 Britain^ have this Year receircd that Encou- 
 ragement, they flood fo much in need of, and 
 fo richly deferved : TTie Bounties upon Hemp 
 and Flax, which were given nrft by 3 & 4 
 Ann. c. 10. and continued by leveral other Ads, 
 had been of late Years fuffered ro drop, and the 
 A6t by which tiicy were lail given, was expired : 
 The Culture of Hemp did not fucceed : Hardly 
 any was Imported; and the Bounty being never 
 tilled for, fell into Oblivion ; but the c-ncreafe 
 of the Colonics ha\ing enatkd iheiii to attend 
 ' to 
 
ncou- 
 and 
 Hemp 
 
 3& 4 
 
 Aas, 
 
 id the 
 pired : 
 ardly 
 never 
 Qcreafe 
 attend 
 to 
 
 ( 5S ) 
 
 to it again, and annually to raifc, large Quanti- 
 ties ; the Renewal of the Bounty will be a pro- 
 bable means of procuring from thence in Courfe 
 of Time fufficient for our whole Confumption, 
 tho* it amount at a Medium of the iaft Ten 
 Years, to more than 300,000/. per Annum. To 
 raife fo confiderable an Article of Naval Stores 
 within ourfelvesj to fliake off our Dependancc 
 for a precarious Supply upon other Countries, 
 who by fome unexpefted fluduation in politi- 
 cal Conneflions, may become adverfe to thefc 
 Kingdoms, and will then be able to difappoint 
 us in a Time of Crifis, or even to occafion the 
 Diftrefs which they will not lelieve ; to wreft in 
 fhort out of the hands of other States, be they 
 ever fo friendly, fuch an undue Influence over 
 all our Operations, is a great objefl to a Mari- 
 time Power: And to procure fo extenfive a 
 Branch of Trade j is equally Interefting to a 
 Commercial People: But when fuch an Acqui- 
 fjtion is in view, Great Britain does not morolely 
 grudge to the Colonies the greater fliare '>f it : 
 She dues not tenacioufly adhere to her c In- 
 terefbs alone : On the contrary, (he freely ^ivcs 
 up the Revenue arifing from the Importation of 
 Foreign Hemp: And liberally grants out of 
 her other Revenues the Bounties oH Eight Pounds 
 per Tonfcr Sever. Imrs, o/Six Pounds per Ton for 
 the next Seven l^ars^ ^nd of Four Founds for ano" 
 ther Term of Seven Tears more., en Hemp im- 
 ported from America. T!ic fime Bounties on 
 the like Qiiantities of Flax imported from 
 thence, arc, fo far as that alfo is a Naval Store, 
 founded upon the fame Principles; but confide- 
 rin^ Flax as the principal Material in the Manu- 
 factory 
 
 •'iJ 
 
 ■■v. 
 
II 
 
 i 
 
 fafbory of Linen, the Encouragement given 
 to the Importation of it will contribute to ano- 
 ther great End, which I fhali prefently have 
 occafiorj to explain more fully, when the Duty 
 upon Linen, with which it is connedted, will, 
 together with the other Duties which it has 
 been thought expsdienc to impofe, be particu-- 
 larly confidered. 
 
 The Circumftances of the Times, the Necef- 
 Cties of this Country, and the Abilities of the 
 Colonics, concur in requiring an American Re- 
 venue ; Greal Briiain Urd'uied to the utmoll of 
 her Strength, finks under the Exertion, and 
 will haidly recover by Refl alone, without the 
 Aid of Remedy: her funded Debt increafed 
 by 65,061,960/. yj. lod. for theExpences of the 
 kft War, amounts now, the 1,000,000/. Civil 
 Lid Debt being included, to the enormous Sum 
 of 130,586,968/. 4J. o*. upon which 4,716,68 1/. 
 4J. I i {-. Intereft is annually paid : her unfunded 
 Debt at the End of the War was no IfeTs than 
 9,061,416/. lis. c)d. of which 2,464,517/. i'^s, 
 lod. is this Year paid olf, and 3,483,553/. u. 
 lod. is for the prefent charged upon the Sink- 
 ing Fund *, but the whole muft be paid, before 
 that Fund can be applied to the Diminution of 
 the funded Debt : her Peace Ellablifkment is 
 at the fame Time increafed by the Necelfity of 
 keeping an Army in America, of augmenting 
 herFlect,and of providing for the manyKxpences 
 of her additional Dominions. T he whole An- 
 nual Revenue that is neccflliry to anfvver all thcfe 
 Demands, amounts to near 3,000,000/. and is . 
 raifed by many, and fome of them burthanfome 
 Taxes, which are impofed, not only upon 'ic 
 
 Ltixu. ics 
 
I 57 } 
 
 Luxuries of the Rich, but which all the Re- 
 fearchesof Invention, and all the Refoiirccs of 
 P'inance, could not find Means to keep off from 
 the Conliimption of the Poor; and great Pare 
 oF thehiare not meer Expedients for a prefent 
 Exigency, but are entailed upon our Pofterity 
 perhaps to diftant Generations. The whole of 
 tliis vaft' Revenue is raifed in GrerJ Britain^ and 
 is paid by the Inhabitants of Great Britain^ ex- 
 cepting fuch Duties as 'are levied or retained up- 
 on Exportation to foreign Countries, or to the 
 Colonies, and which aher all Draw-backs and' 
 Bounties are allowed, make but a fmall Propor- 
 tion of the whole} and even thcfe, tho' pro- 
 duced oh the Confumption of others, are ftill a 
 Burthen upon the Trade o^ Great Britain:^, while 
 the Colonies in North ./America, near two Mil- ■ 
 lion of Britijh Subjedls, an opulent, commer- 
 cial, thriving people, and who hive b^en en- 
 abled by the Patronage of their Mother Coun- 
 try to extend their Trade and their Cultivatiorl "* 
 over that fertile Continent, fupported by her 
 Wealth, protefted by her Power, and blcffed 
 with her Laws, contribute to the national Ex- 
 pence by Taxes raifed there, no more than {tvtn 
 or eight Hundred Pounds /i^r Jm. and the Co- 
 lonies in the fVeJi-hdieSy where, tho* their Num- 
 bers are lei's, their Riches are greater, have re- 
 mitted no more than eleven or twelve Hundred 
 Y^wri^^ per Am. .10 England: The whole Re- 
 mittance from all the Colonies at an Average of 
 thirty Years has not amounted to 1900/ a year, 
 and to make it ftill more ridiculous, thc.hfta- 
 bfiHiment of Officers neceflary to colled this i 
 1 900/. amounts to 7600/. per Annum, J 
 
 There 
 
( 58 ) 
 
 There Is no Occafion to accompany this Ac- 
 count with any Obfervations ; only to ftate it, 
 is to prove the Necefiity of an additional Ameri^ 
 can Revenue ; they can certainly bear more \ 
 they ought to raife more : The Subje^Sts and the 
 Mode of new Impofitions are therefore the only 
 Confiderations ; but to lay thcn^i on Subjedts^ 
 and in fuch a Manner as v/oald not be opprefldve 
 to thofe who were to pay them, would not be 
 dangerous, in the delicate Situation of the Colo- 
 nies, with refpedl to their Trade, their Improve- 
 ments, and their Conne(^ion with the Mother 
 Country, and would at the fame time apply 
 equally to all, in their different Stages of Pro- 
 grefs from Infancy to Maturity, was a Mea- 
 fure that required the utmoff Caution, Circum- 
 fpedlion, and Care ; It came under the Delibera- 
 tion of Parliament the laft Winter, and by their 
 Wifdom an A<51 was pafled to be the Founda- 
 tion of an American Revenue, which is formed 
 upon fuch Principles, that the Increafe in the 
 Revenue, v/hich may be expedbed from it, tho* 
 very confiderable, feems the leaft important 
 Objf(5t i fo very judicious, fo very interefling 
 are the feveral Provifions of this Aft, for the 
 Purpofes of Commerce and Colonization. 
 
 To encouragcthe Confumption of our own 
 Produce and our own Manufactures, in prefe- 
 rence to thofe of other Countries, has been 
 at all times an undifputed Maxim of Po- 
 licy i and for this Purpofe, high Duties and 
 even Prohibitions have been laid upon lorcigii 
 Commodities, while Bounties have been 
 granted oii our own. I'he general Tenden- 
 cy ^of the A61 now before us is to extend the 
 
 fame 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 fame Principle to the /Imcricafty as is followed la 
 refpedl to our home Trade and Confumpcion. 
 One general Claufe v;ith this View diminifhes the 
 Draw-back allowed oii Re-exportation, and en- 
 adts that no Part of the Rate or Duty, commonly 
 calied The Old Suhftdy^ JJiall be repaid or drawn 
 back, for any foreign Goods of the Groivtht Pro- 
 duSfioUy or MaiiufaBure of Europe, or the Enfl:- 
 Indies, whichjiiall be exported from this Kingdom 
 to any Bfitifh Colony, IVines, white C^llicocs, ana 
 Muflins, only excepted, which are othcrwife pro- 
 vided tor. I'd many Articles this will give a 
 Turn in favour of BriiiJhyProdiKG and Manu- 
 ■f^idiires i in fome, it may be an Inducement to 
 the Colonies to apply to the Cultivation of Com- 
 modities, they may very well raife, but ha\'e 
 liithertohegledcd ; but in none can it be oppref- 
 five to retain all the Old Subfidy, the whole of 
 which is a very low Duty, and half of it is re- 
 tained already • thefe foreign Commodities will 
 ■flill come rnUch cheaper to the Americans than 
 they do to their fellow Subjecis here, who pay 
 on aliTioft all of them fome, and on many of 
 them very large additional Duties, and indeed 
 can in general alTord to pay more. The Revenue 
 too of theCuftomS here will be increafi.^d, from 
 the great Quantity of Goods, upon v/hich thrs 
 fiving "of the Draw-back will be made ; and 
 tho' it would be tedious to enter into the Dc^tail 
 of the numberlefs Articles, and the various 
 Rates upon the feveral Articles that will be af- 
 fected by it, without which Detail, no exJtt 
 Calculation can be made of the Produce tv-^ be 
 txpected from this Duty ; yet the general Com- 
 putation, and which certainly is very modeiace, 
 , ■ ■ • ' ' ■ I . t^iac 
 
 
( 6o r 
 
 that the Goods imported annually from Great 
 Britain into Amtriea^ amount in Value to the 
 $um of 1,400,000/. and that one Third of 
 thefc are foreign Goods re-exported from hence, 
 make a very low Duty upon fo great a Con- 
 fumption, no contemptible Object ; but befides 
 thefe, it is commonly fuppofed that foreign 
 Good* to the Amount of 700,000/. are annually 
 fmuggled into the Colonies, and fhould the Re- 
 gulations, I fhall prefently mention, to have 
 been made for the Prsvention of all illicit Trade, 
 have the EfFedl that is to be wifhed, to bring the 
 greater Part of thefe too iii» the regular Chan- 
 nel thro' Great Britain^ \n which Cafe the whok 
 Subfidy would be retained on them aifo, which 
 now yield nothing, then the Amount of ^ this- 
 Duty upon all, will really be coniiderabk. 
 
 Among the Goods that are the Subjects of 
 this Tax are the foreign Linens, which there- 
 by become Icfs merchantable for t\m Trade, than 
 the Britijh j on the other hand, a rival Manu- 
 faftory is apprehended in America itfelf, and in- 
 hancing the Price of Linens, exported from 
 hence, will, it is faid, be a Means of encourage- 
 ing it. For myfelf, I own I am under no fuch 
 Ap^rehenfions, and the Fadls that are alledged 
 to fupport that Opinion, feem to me to prove 
 the contrary. Great Quantities of Linen it is 
 true are made there already ; but then the 
 Manufactory is almoft confined to Penfylvania, 
 and there the weaving Part of it is carried on 
 entirely by the Germans, who tranfport them- 
 felves thither in great Numbers every Year,, 
 and carry their Myftery with them. For a pre- 
 fcnt Subfiftance. on their Arrival, they follow 
 
 the 
 
( 6i ) 
 
 the Bufincfs they were bred to, but as foon as 
 they get enough to enable them to fettle a Piece 
 of Land, (which they foon tnay, when they can 
 earn Three Shillings and Six- pence per diem,) 
 they find farming the more agreeable and more 
 advantageous Employment: they turn to it 
 themfclves, and train their Children to that on- 
 ly. A Manu^ftory thus deferted by thofe who 
 are engaged in it on the firll Opportunity that 
 ofFers,^ and dependant upon fortuitous CIrcum- 
 fiances for Exiftence, can never be confidcred 
 as flouriihing and eftablifhed : Nor is there any 
 Profped of its being other wife j for the Extent 
 and Fertility of the Country is fo vaftly difpro- 
 portionate to the Number of Inhabitants, that 
 good Lands are in moft of the Colonies an eafy 
 Acquifition, to thofe that will clear them, and 
 where Eftates may thus be railed by meer Til- 
 lage, all Temptations to Manufadlures are want- 
 ing ; Men who can depend upon their Induftry 
 alone, will not have recourfe to Arts for Sub- 
 fiftance •, and a Father, who can enable his Son 
 to provide for himfelf, by taking u^. a Piece of 
 uncleared Land for him, as foon as lie is of Age 
 to manage it, and till then has his Affiftance in 
 cultivating that, which he himfelf had cleared 
 in his Youth, will think Money and Time both 
 thrown away in teaching him a Bufinefs not fo 
 good as his own, and by which it will appear to 
 him that his Child is pre-maturely taken out of 
 his Family, He really can with lefs Expence 
 fet him up in a Farm than in a Trade, and he 
 knows that a Farmer who cultivates improve- 
 able Land for his own Advantage, is in a better 
 Situation th a a Manufacturer; It is juft the 
 
 I 2 Dif- 
 
i 
 
 ( 62 ) 
 
 DfFcrence between a fubftantial Ytomm, and i 
 Journeyman Weaver, Gc long therefore as the 
 Americam can get Land at an cafy Rate, they 
 •will apply to the Cultivation of it in preference 
 to all other Employ nients : and \t is the Glory 
 of the lafl Peace, that it has furnifhed them 
 with Territory fufficicnt to fub^ft: their People 
 in all their Increafe to very diftant Gencrairons. 
 Still however it may be faid all Manufactures 
 in the Colonies are not carried on by Foreigners 
 only i including even thofe that go from thefe 
 Kingdoms, who fo far may be confidered as 
 P'oreigners 'there: Many Natives of America it 
 tnay be urged are amongft them \ and it is truej 
 accidental Circumftanccs engage them, apd the 
 NecefTjties of the Country require theip •, for 
 there is a certain Pegree of Manufacture atten- 
 dant upon Cultivation, in order to convert to. 
 its proper Ufe the whole of every Produftion, 
 fome Parts of which might otherwile be left a 
 worthlcfs Refufe on the Hands of the Planter. 
 In the Article of Flax, for Inftance, which has 
 hitherto beeri raifed in America principally tq 
 fupply the Demand of Flax Seed for fowing, 
 and other Purpofes here, the Stalks mull be 
 thrown away, if there is no Opporf unity to ex- 
 port or to fpin them. Hitherto the Exporta- 
 tion has not been found to anfwer ; and there- 
 fore the Farmers employ their Families in fpin- 
 ning, when the Rigour or Inclemency of the 
 ^eafon confine them within (floors : This is the 
 real 'Foundation of their Linen Manufa<5tory ; 
 They have hitherto proceeded no further than 
 this has carried them -, nor is it likely they fliould 
 foon make a greater Progrcfs j for even in Ven- 
 
 Jylvania^ 
 
( 63 ) 
 
 - ,. .1\ . . 
 
 .*\ ^J 
 
 Jyhaniay where more F^Iax* is ralfed and 'more ^ 
 Weavers are fettled, than in any other Province,, 
 common Labour is fo dear, that if a Farmer 
 cannot fpin his own FJax in his own Houfe, 
 and by his owr Family, he will not find his Ac^ 
 QoiiDt in putting it out to be fpun : if that Ex- 
 pence falls upon him, he can fupply himfelf 
 cheaper with Unen from England: So very 
 fmall is the Advantage of Manufaduring for 
 themfclves, and fo very confined is fuch a 
 Manufadlory : Materials Vv^ill never be purpofely 
 raifed to fupply it, it cannot bear the Expence 
 of all its fcveral Branches, if thofe employed 
 in them are to apply themfelves to no other, 
 nor will ic ever produce fuch a Quantity of 
 Merchandize, as to become an Article of Com- 
 jnercci yet limited as it is in its Nature, it will 
 probably rather diminilh than increafe, now that 
 the Parliament has granted a Bounty as above- 
 mentioned on the Importation of Flax : The 
 American Planter will no longer complain that 
 his Flax Stalks muft be wafted if he does not 
 Manufadure them : but a Vent being opened 
 for them into Great Eritain^ whither h** could 
 not afford to fend them before, this wil proba- 
 bly be found to be the mofl advantageous Man- 
 ner of difpofirg of them. 
 
 But there are more cogent Reafons flill of a 
 public Confideration againft the Attempt to ex- 
 tend fuch a Manufaflory ; for tho' the Inhabi- 
 tants of thefe Kingdoms and of America are e- 
 qually Subjcds of Great Britain, yet they ferve 
 the State in different Capacities ; and if to make 
 unwarrantable Dillin^^tions between them would 
 
 be 
 
 
( 64 ) 
 
 bf Cpprcfljon i on the other hand to prefcrve the 
 i>iftin6Hons which thcDiffcrtnce of their Situati- 
 ons has made, is true policy, which has the 
 general Good for its Objeft : Extent of Coun- 
 try, Fertility of Soil, Cheapncfs of Land, Vari-' 
 ety of Climate, and fcarcity of Inhabitants, na- 
 turally lead the Americans to Cultivation : There 
 arc hardly any Productions of the Earth which 
 t\ity cannot raifc; including the IVefi India 
 Iflands I believe there are none : But putting 
 cbem out of the Cafe for the prt-fenr, the Con- 
 tinent alone can produce Provifions for Subfift- 
 cncc, Commodities for Commerce, and the raw 
 Materials for Manufafturers to work with, in 
 much greater Variety, in Quantities immeafu- 
 rably larger, and on Terms by far more eafy 
 than they could be raifed in Great Britain j here 
 on the contrary, landed Property is very valua- 
 ble, and but a fmall proportion of it ftill re- 
 mains improveable to any confiderable degree, 
 by force of Cultivation only ; fo that the Oc- 
 cupation of Land is ratlw-'r a Means of veiling 
 than of acquiring Money, But the Inhabitants 
 of Great Britain are more than fufficient for its 
 Cultivation, and muft feek for Fortunes, and 
 even for Subfiftance in Trade and Manufac- 
 tures : They have Science, Experience, and 
 Skill, fupported by HicHes and Credit equal to 
 any undertaking, while a comlant Correfpon- 
 dence and eafy Intercourfe between themfelves, 
 and a univerfal Commerce to all parts of the 
 Globe, enables them to difpofe of all they pre- 
 pare for Merchandize : In every one of thcfe 
 Articles fo necelTary to Manufadlories, they have 
 greatly the Advantage of the Americans ; a * 
 
 the 
 
( «J ) 
 
 the Bafis of all, manual labour, is cheaper ficftf 
 than it is there, fo great is their Demand to 
 clear the immcnfe Tradts which ftill lie wafte, 
 and to 'mprore thofc which they have hitherto 
 been able to cultivate but partiaHy. The Ma- 
 nufadures therefore of GnatBritatK inwft on all 
 thcfe Accounts be fuperior in Quality, and 
 lower in price •:han thole of Amirica. And the 
 neceflary Confequence from the different Cir- 
 cumftances of the two Countries is, that neither 
 can encroach upon the other in the Articles that 
 rjire particularly adapted to each, without Preju- 
 dice to both : Commerce is in many refpetfls 
 common to both j but Lands are wanting irv 
 the one for Produce, and hands cannoc be found 
 for Manufadlories in the other : Should then the 
 Americans 2Xttm^iio extend their Manufactures 
 beyond the point, to which the convenience of 
 «iie Planter, and the accidental Circumflances 
 o^ Individuals, will naturally carry them, fhould 
 they endeavour to eftablifli them as Branches of 
 Commerce, they would immediately raife the 
 price of Labour already extravagantly high; 
 they would draw off their people from their pro- 
 per Employment in Agriculture ; retard the 
 clearing of the Country \ check all Improve- 
 ments of Land*, load its produce with an addi- 
 tional Expence ; enhance the Value of all the 
 Neceflaries of Life; and their fuecefs in the 
 End, if they fhould fucceed, would be lefs De- 
 trimental to their Mother Country, than to 
 ^emfelves. Succefs however is not to be ex- 
 pelled : The Difficulties that will arifc from the 
 Circumftances of the Country and the Genius of 
 the People, both naturally adverfe to Manu- 
 
 fadures. 
 
 r^ii 
 
I 
 
 ( 66 ) 
 
 fatflures, arc too great for any Individuals to 
 ftruggle with j for it will be no eafy Tallc to per- 
 fuade the Americans to forfake the rich Lands 
 that invite their Culture, and promife an ample 
 Recompcnce for the Labour bellowed upon 
 them ; to leave the ways their Fathers trod, and 
 in which themfelves were trained j to drop a 
 Bufinefs which they already underfland, in 
 which they have had a long Experience, and by 
 ■which all their Family have thriven i in ftiort» 
 to change all their Habits of thinking, and dieir 
 whole Manner of Life j in order to apply to 
 Arcs which they do not know, or know butim- 
 perfedlly, with a gfeat lofs of Time, and at an 
 uncertain Expence, in purfuit of precarious 
 Gain. Yet all this mud be effeded before re* 
 gular extenfive Mercantile Manufadories can 
 be eftablil'hed in any confiderable Numbers in 
 America : Thofe that fubfift there now, are of a 
 quite different Nature, arifing out of Agricul- 
 ture itfelf, as one of its natural Effects, which 
 infl"ead of Checking, encourages its Progrefs l 
 Thar of Linens has no other foundation ; and 
 when its Extent is fully examined, it will hz 
 found not to have paiied beyond the Bounds, 
 which fuch a fource would naturally fupply* 
 For it is not to be imagined that they manu- 
 fa6lure all they do rot In^port from Greal Bri. 
 <ain : Large Qiiantities are annually fent ihi- 
 tlier from the Ports of Holland and other Coun- 
 tries on the German Ocean, in Ships employed 
 in an illicit Trade with the Colonies. Others 
 ^re fmuggled in by fmaller Parcels from the Fo- 
 reign, particularly from the Dutch Iflands •, and 
 no JaconHderable Quantity is coni\antlv brought 
 
 *'t9l ,*■ 
 
( 67 ) 
 
 by the Germans who go to fettle there in great 
 Numbers every Year j many of whom have, 
 with them one, two, three, or more. Pieces oi' 
 Linen, which they find Means to k.id clandef- 
 tinely, and difpore of at moderate Prices. Thelb 
 Dedu6lions beioL^ made from the Difference be- 
 tween the Exportation from hence, and the; 
 Confumption in America^ the Remainder, which 
 is all th.it they manufadure themlelves, will be 
 found to be much Icfs than is ufuully fuppofed. 
 The Subjedl is capable of a much larger Dif- 
 cufnon than I have Room for ; but the Reafons 
 that have been mentioned, may perhaps be fuf- 
 ficent, without urging them any kirthc^r, or 
 fupporting them with others that might be given, 
 to fi;ew that all Attempts to eflablilh Manu- 
 faflures m. America^ to an Extent that may be 
 alarming to Great Britain^ muft prove abortive 
 in the End-, at leaft, the additional Duty upon 
 Linens affords no Ground for fuch Apprehen- 
 fions : it is buc half a Subfidy that is impofcd, 
 which is too inconfiderable upon the whole to 
 make a material Difference : the Tax it is true, 
 falls unequally, as Linens of very different 
 Prices pay the fame Duty, being comprehended 
 under the general Denomination of Narrow 
 Germans. This is a Grievance that is equally 
 felt in Great Britain., and which I hope will be 
 thought deferving of a Remedy : Could a Line 
 of Diltindlion be drawn between the fine;" and 
 coarfer Linens, that are now included within 
 the fime Defcription, and fuch I ffiould think 
 it would not be impoffiblj for Perfons engaged 
 in that Trade to draw, 1 fiatter myfelt tiiat it 
 would be adopted : but m the r.isan while, tha 
 
 ,K Annri, 
 
 
 
( 68 ) 
 
 Americam have no greater Reafon to complain 
 than the Englijh of this Difproporcion j and as to 
 the ddlual Duty required of them, they mud ftill 
 confider themfelves as favoured, not opprefled, 
 when they refle<5l that upon thecheapeft of thefe 
 Linens, thofe on which the Duty is moft bur- 
 thenfome, the old Subfidy is but about Three 
 Shillings, and Nine-pence Three Farthings 
 upon a Hundred and Twenty Ells, which is all 
 that they are now to pay, and half of which they 
 paid before ; while the feveral Impofts paid by 
 the EngliJIi for their Confumption upon the fame 
 Quantity of the fame LJnen amounts to about 
 One Pound. One Shilling, and Four-pence, 
 Three Farthings, which is a greater Difpropor- 
 tion of Burthen, than their different Situations 
 ard Circumftances require. 
 
 Should there, however, be any Americans fo 
 unreafonable, fo rafli, as on this Account to en- 
 gage in the Eftablifliment of Linen Manufac- 
 tories there, and fuppofing a Contrariety be- 
 tween the Interefts oi Great Britain and its Colo- 
 nies, affedl to fupport the one, to the prejudice of 
 the other ; they can ftill proceed in their Attempt 
 no further than the Mother Country will allow : 
 I do not mean to fuggeil prohibitory Laws ; but 
 Laws to which no American could form an Ob- 
 jeftion, would effedually thwart all their Endea- 
 vours. It has been already obferved, that the only 
 Circumftance whicli enables the Planter to manu- 
 facfcure Linens cheaper than he can buy them 
 when imported from hence, is becaufe he does 
 not pay jor the .Spinning j this was the Cale 
 under the Duty of half the old Subfidy : Should 
 it for the Sake of Argument be fuppofed, (tho* 
 
ins fo 
 to cn- 
 niifac- 
 ty bc- 
 Colo- 
 ice of 
 tempt 
 How : 
 ; but 
 »Ob- 
 ndea- 
 on!y 
 anu- 
 them 
 does 
 Caie 
 hould 
 (tho* 
 
 ( 69 ) 
 
 I cannot believe,) that the additional halt Sub- 
 fidy will turn the Scale, and enable any Perfon 
 there, tho' he were to pay for the Spinning of 
 the Flax, to make Linen cheaper than it can 
 be bought ; which is the moft that can be ap- 
 prehended i it will always be in the Power of 
 Great Britain to reinftate Things where they 
 were, and if the additional Duty has caufed an 
 Alteration, the taking off that Duty muft necef- 
 farily reftore the imported Linens to their for- 
 mer Price, which is lower than /^mericaM.^n\xi2iC- 
 turers can afford thcni for •, while on the othef 
 Hand, a Bounty upon Americim Flax, imported 
 into Great Britain, will give the Britifli Manufac- 
 turer a dill further Advantage ovir thcjimerjcaft, 
 and enable him even to purchafe h:s Materials 
 cheaper. Thus by eafing thevColoniei* of a Tax 
 on their Confumprion, and by givingEncourage- 
 ment to their Produce, both which the Mother 
 Country ought upon all Occafions to do, as far 
 as the Exigencies of State will allow, Great 
 Britain has it in her Power to difappoint any 
 Eftablifliments of this Kina that are contrary 
 to the general Good -, and however Individuals 
 may be affedled, the general Aflemblies in their 
 refpedtive Provinces will never upon mature De- 
 liberation fupport the Profecuiion of Defigns, 
 ■which have a diredl Tendency to hurt the Manu- 
 fadlories of the Mother Country, to check Cuj- 
 tivation in the Colonies, and to leffen the Navi- 
 gation of both. 
 
 The whole Objedion, however, againfl; the 
 additional Duty on Linens, applies to the 
 coarfer Kinds, upon which alone a Burthen in 
 itfclf fo inconfiderablc, can be fdt at all : On 
 
 K 2 the 
 
 ^. 
 
 ',. 1 
 
 M 
 
C 70 ) 
 
 the finer Kinds, even of the narrchv German;^ 
 it is not pretended that it is too heavy-, much 
 lefs will there be any Room to cavil at an In- 
 creafe of Duty upon French Lawns and Cam- 
 bricks, tho* confiderably greater than on the 
 other Linens, being inftead of Half the Old 
 Subfidy, three Shillings per Piece, at thirteen 
 Ells to the Piece. The Americans will (lill pay 
 but about half what ufed to be paid by the Con- 
 fumers in this Country, when Fr^;/f/i Cambricls 
 and Lawns were allowed to be worn ; and the 
 Principles upon which they have been prohi- 
 bited here, dictate fome Reitraint at leaib on the 
 Confumption of the/e Commodities in the Colo- 
 nies, which in efFe<5l is laid by the Impofition of 
 a higher Duty upon thefe than upon other Li- 
 nens 
 
 The fame Cbfervatlons apply to the prohi* 
 bitcd Eaji India Goods, the wrought Silks and 
 • the painted Callicoes •, they are prohibited in 
 order to oblige the Company to import the Silk 
 raw, and the Callicoes white for our own Manu- 
 faflures. The Indulgence however of wearing 
 them is not taken away from the Color ies, buc 
 the Ad: of the lail Seflions lays them vnder the 
 Difcouragement of a Duty of Two Shillings 
 jp^r Pound Weight on the wrought Silks, and of 
 Two Shillings and Six-pence/>^r Piece on the 
 painted Callicoes, This indeed is a confiderable 
 Rife upon the half Subfidy they paid before, 
 which amounted to no more than Four pence 
 Farthing ^^r Pound Weight on the former, and 
 Three pence />^r Piece on the latter; but it hard- 
 ly yet exceeds a Third of the Duty that was 
 charged upon them, while their Confumption 
 
 waa 
 
( 7' ) 
 
 was permitted in this Country: Six Shillings 
 per Pound on the Eajl India wrought Silks, and 
 Three Shillings and Six-pence per Piece on the 
 painted Callicoes, together with Fihetn per CentJ 
 on thf; grofs Price of the latter, did not check 
 that Confumption (o much as the Interefts of 
 our own Manufa61:urers required, and made a 
 Prohibition neceflary : for fuch is the Delicacy 
 and the Beauty of thefe Commodities, that Per- 
 fons who pique themfelves on Elegance, and can 
 afford to gratify their Tafte, will not be detered 
 from the Indulgence, by a much heavier Duty than 
 is now levied on the American Confumption. This 
 Confideration folves the Doubt that has been fur- 
 niifed, of the Operation fuch a Tax may have 
 on the Demand of the Foreign, particularly the 
 SpaniJJj Colonies, for Eafl India Manufadures : 
 I believe it will have none, or at lead no con* 
 fiderable Effed : for there is not a People upon 
 the Globe, to whofe Ufe, to whofe Manners, 
 and whofe Difpofitions, thefe Commodities are 
 more particularly adapted : No other refemble 
 them fo nrach, as to be eafily fubftituted in 
 their Room j and the advanced Price v/ill not 
 raife them to a Value too extravagant for fuch 
 Purchafers •, but fhould it be faid that the Butck 
 will now be able to furnilh them at a cheaper 
 Katcj theAnfwcris, that the Piece Goods of 
 India^ have been long imported by our Com- 
 pany in larger Qiiantiries than by any etlier : 
 that the Conceflions made by France in the late 
 Treaty of Peace, with refpedfc to the Eaji India 
 Trade and Settlements, will in this Branch par- 
 ticularly give us Itill greater Advantages ; and 
 that the Dutch therefore mult as they aduallydo 
 
 provide 
 
( 7* ) 
 
 provide themfelves with the greatci'Part of tlicir 
 Supply at our Eajl India Sales : Upon all that 
 tfiey buy there, they pay a Commidlon and a 
 Freight, from which the Britijh Merchant is 
 free, and which perhaps may be an Equivalent 
 for the Duty : If it is not, the Remedy is ob- 
 vious, it is but fpreading die fame Impofition 
 or a Part of it over all Exportarion of fuch 
 Goods, and then the Situations of the Liitck^ 
 and Britijh Merchants, with Refpedl to each 
 other, will again be, juft what diey have been 
 hitherto. Muflins and White Callicoes, which 
 are not prohibited, are rated by the A<5t of the 
 iaft Seflions, but in a different Manner, higher 
 than other Linens ; for inftead of retaining the 
 additional half Subfidy, a Draw- back of Four 
 Pounds Fifteen Shillings upon every Hundred 
 Pounds of their grofs Price at the Sale is re- 
 tain'd, upon all that are exported to America, 
 This is lefs by almoft three Fourths than the 
 Duty paid by the Confumers oi the fame Com- 
 rnodities in i5r//<3/«-, yet under that Weight the 
 Manufa<fVurc of printing Callicoes has flourifhed, 
 and we may therefore reafonably expecfl that it 
 ^vill not be oppreffed by a Burthen compara^ 
 lively lb light upon printed Callicoes confumed' 
 in the Colonies ; elpecially when we confider that 
 the additional Value they acquire by the Manu- 
 facUire is not laxed, thofe printed in England 
 being conftrued to be but White Callicoes with- 
 in the Delcription of the Ads of Parliament 
 that relate to them : and other Linens which 
 have gone thro' the fame Marufadure, and 
 which are new become of ftidi general Ufe, 
 
 botU 
 
( 73 ) 
 
 both for Apparel and Furniture, are free from 
 the Duty on CalUcoes. 
 
 The Diftinftion made in this Aft of Parlia- 
 ment between the Fr^wr/^ Lawns and Carribricks, 
 the Eafl India Cailicoes and Muflins which are 
 all hi<^h-priced, and other Kinds of Linen 
 •which are in general of a lower Value, will 
 1 hope juftify me in faying, that if a Line could 
 be drawn between the finer and the coarfer Li- 
 nens, which now pafs indifcriminately under the 
 Denomination of Narrow Germans, it would 
 probably be adapted : if it w?ere, the Duty up- 
 on all Kinds of Linens would then be through- 
 out conipleatly agreeable to the equitable 
 Maxim of laying Taxes in different Propor- 
 tions, on the Confymption of the Rich, and 
 on that of the Poor : that while the Indulgen- 
 cies and Refinements of the one are converted 
 into beneficial Branches of the Public Revenue, 
 the other may with more Chearfulnefs contribute 
 out of dieir Pittance the Mite they owe, to the 
 Service of the State they belong to. The In- 
 habitants of the H^ejl Indies, wiiole Qpulenc?, 
 whofc Luxury, and I might lay, whofe Situa- 
 tion leads them into more Extravaeance in fuch 
 Articles, than prevails among the Inhabitants of 
 the Continent, will therefore be mon fenfibly 
 afTccSted by thefe Duties, in which the Value is; 
 to a certain Degree made the Meafure of the 
 Duties ; but it is right tlv't throughout all the 
 BrhtJJi Dominions, the Neceliaries of Life 
 ihould be lels burthened than the Superfluities, 
 and that all his Majefty's Subjeifls, wherefocvcr 
 difperfcd, fliould CQntnbute to the publick Re-i 
 
 venue. 
 
 ^-) 
 
( 74 ) 
 
 venue, in Proportion to their Abilities, and not 
 to tb !ir Numbers. 
 
 A Duty upon Wine coiries within the fame 
 Defcription of a Tax upon Luxury, but the 
 Regulations made during the laft Seflions of 
 Parliament, with refpedt to the fevcral Sorts of 
 ("Wine for the Confumption of America^ are fo 
 different, and founded upon fuch peculiar Cir- 
 cuftances, that it is difficult to fay whether in the 
 Event it will prove, that an Impofition has been 
 laid or taken off from that Commodity. The 
 "Wine that has been hitherto exported from 
 hence to the Colonies, has been allowed no 
 other Draw-back than on any other Exporta- 
 tion. But the Colonies have always been per- 
 mitted to import Wine from the Madeiras and 
 the Azores^ without bringing it thro' Great 
 Britain ; the natural Confequence of the Saving 
 thereby made, both of Freight and of Duty, 
 has been a Preference of thele to all others, \o 
 that thefe are become almofl: their only Con- 
 fumption. The Inhabitant's of Mader-'a have on 
 this Account long had a kind of Monopoly of 
 the Wine Trade to our Colonies, and have taken 
 the Advantages which Monopolifts ufually take, 
 of advancing the Price and lowering the Quali* 
 ty i as the Demand increafes with the Popula- 
 tion of the Colonies, the Oppreflion muft be the 
 greater, and it is already fuch as to malct it ne- 
 ceflary to bring the Madeira Wines nearer to a 
 Level with others : with this View a larger Draw- 
 back than formerly is allowed on all but French 
 Wines, exported from hence to the IVeJl Indies 
 and America \ for inftead of Eleven Pounds, 
 Thirteen Shillings and Six-pence /"^r Ton Duty 
 
 which 
 
IW- 
 
 \ficb 
 
 ds, 
 
 Licy 
 
 ich 
 
 ( 7S ) 
 
 \vhicn ufcd to remain, but Three Pounds, Ten 
 Shillings is from henceforth to be retained here. 
 Ten Shillings is impofed in the Colonies to make 
 the rclpedive Cuilom-honfe Accounts, Checks 
 Upon each other. But while the Duty is lowered 
 on thefe, a new one of Seven Pounds per Ton 
 is impofed on thofe of the Madeiras, and other 
 Places from whence Wines may be lawful'y 
 imported into the Colonies. As a Luxury, they 
 ought in juftice, and as a Monopoly, they 
 ought in Policy to be taxed j but fhould the 
 EfJed: of thefe Regulations be fuch as may rea- 
 fonably be expeded, the Price of Wines in 
 general will rather be lowered than advanced by 
 the Duty upon one Species of them only. Such as 
 are carried from hence will certainly be cheaper 
 by Seven Pounds, Tiiirteen Shillings and Six- 
 pence p€r Ton., than they ufed to be -, they will 
 for the moft Part too be cheaper than thofe of 
 the Madeiras, their original Price, and the Du- 
 ty upon them being fo much lefs, as to over- 
 ballance the Difference of Freight. The De- 
 mand and confequently the Price of the latter 
 will thereby be leffened : they will be no longer 
 a Monopoly, becaufe no longer a Neceflary, and 
 Will therefore be cheaper than they are nov/ ; 
 and this Tax upon a Luxury of foreign Growth, 
 co-operating with the Encouragement given to 
 Exportation from hence, will have the (till fur- 
 ther beneficial Effedts of improving at the fame 
 time Navigation and Revenue. 
 
 Luxuries even of our own Growth do not 
 cfcape Taxation ; Coffee, the Produce of the 
 Britifj Plantations, is charged with Seven Shil- 
 lings the Hundred Weight, and Pimento with 
 
 L ^n 
 
1 
 
 1 
 
 
 ( 76 ) 
 
 an Half-penny /«' Pound. The Duties indeed 
 are light, for it is not meant to prejudice the 
 Conlumpticn of Commodities, of which we 
 mull Willi to encourage the Cultivation; but 
 only that thofe who can afford to indulge in fuch 
 Delicacies, fhould contribute fomething to the 
 publick Wants, and eafe from heavier Burthens 
 the Ntceflaries of the Poor : if the I'ax went 
 further, it would be pernicious, in loading too 
 much the valuable Produce of fome of our 
 Colonies. 1 he Intention of the Legiflature ap- 
 pears to have been on the contrary, to encourage 
 the raifing of Coffee in our H'^eji India Iflands, 
 by giving it an Advantage over that produced 
 in foreign Plantations, upon every Hundred 
 Weight of which aDutyot Two Pounds Nine- 
 teen Shillings and Nine-pence is by t! ime Ad 
 impofed. So great a Difference of L>uty upon 
 a Hundred Weight, the prime Coft of which 
 will not exceed Three Potinds, muft give a Pre- 
 ference to our own Produce, which is particu- 
 larly recommended to PuWic Encouragement, 
 by the Circumftances of being raifed with lefe 
 Expence than Sugar, and therefore wi-thin the 
 Reach of the firft Settlers in the ceded Iflands. 
 
 The fame Rcafon holds, and perhaps more 
 ftrongly, with refpe^t to Indigo, which, if im- 
 ported from foreign Plantations into any of our 
 Colonies, is by the Ad fo frequently refered to, 
 charged with a Duty of Six-pence ^(?r Pound, 
 while our own Produce paffes free. Indigo is a 
 Commodity, which particuhrly attrads our 
 Notice at this Jundure ; great Quantities of it 
 ufed to be raifed in our pyeft India Iflands, but 
 for many Years very little has been produced-, and 
 
 wi' 
 
 ) 
 
( 77 ) 
 
 we Tiiive been in a great Meafure fupplied by the 
 French. The Reafon of this has not been, ( as 
 is commonly fuppofed,) the high Duties that 
 were laid upon it, but the clearing of the 
 Country ; for Indigo is a Plant that requires 
 Moifture, -whicii nothing can fecure in thofe 
 torrid Climates, but the Proximity of Moun- 
 tains to break the Clouds in their PafTage, or of 
 Woods from whence Vapours are continually 
 exhaled, to refrefh the Neighbourhood with 
 Showers : as the Woods have been cut away, 
 this Refource has gradually failed, and the Pro- 
 duce of Indigo, which depended upon it, has 
 declined in Proportion. The TVeJl Indians regret 
 but little the Lofs of a Commodity, which has 
 made way for a greater Cultivation of their fa- 
 vourite Produce, Sugar -, but the Nation muft 
 fcnfibly feel the inconvenience of being fur- 
 nifbed from other Countries, with fo valuable 
 an Article of Commerce, and fo neceflary a 
 Material of Manufaflure. 
 
 This Confideration has induced fome Planters 
 inSouih Carolina to attempt to raife it there, and 
 they have already fucceeded fo far as to prove, 
 that the Soil and the Climate agree with the 
 Plant, and that they are acquainted with the 
 Art of extracting the Juice, fo as to equal the 
 fined in Quality. The great Lofles they fuf- 
 tained by the Captures of their Ships, have a 
 little retarded their Progrefs : but now that 
 Peace is reftored, there is reafon to exped. that 
 this Cultivation will flourifli, and even be ex- 
 tended to Georgia and the two Fbridas, which 
 are rather better adapted to it than South Caro- 
 lina. To make the Indigo they (hall raife 
 
 L 2 cheaper 
 
 I! 
 
 i 
 
( 78 ) 
 
 cheaper than any that can be imported from the 
 French IQands into America^ will faciliate the 
 Attempt to recover this Commodity, and be 
 very ferviceable to thofe Colonics : the ceded 
 Iflands too will have their fhare of the Benefit, 
 as the Certainty of Moifture from the Woodinefs 
 of the Country, and the Chcapnefs of the Cul- 
 ture, will render this a very proper and a very 
 confiderable Article of Produce to thoie who 
 may purchafe or fettle there. 
 
 Another, and that a moft important Branchy 
 both of Commerce and of Revenue, 1 mean 
 the Produce of the Sugar Cane, in its fevcrai 
 States of Melafles, Rum and Sugar, has been 
 under the Confideradoji of Parliament, during 
 the laft Winter -, and the Degree of Reflraint 
 put upon the French Trade in this Article, is 
 proportioned to the Stage of Manufafture, in 
 which the Commodity may be at the Time of 
 Importation ; Rum is Melafles manufadured; 
 The French were unacquainted with the Art, or 
 at leaft, did not give into the Practice of 
 making Rum, till taught and led to it by ouy 
 People, while we were in Pofieflion of their 
 IQands : At that Time fome D.iftilleries were 
 fet up for this Purpofe, which are faid to be con- 
 tinued fince the Peace -, but they can never be 
 of any confequence, if we do not help the Per-r 
 fons concerned in them to difpofe of what they 
 produce. France will not permit her Colonies 
 to eftablifh, a Manufacture that fliall interfere 
 with any Branch of her own, and will therefore 
 prevent the making of Rum, fo far as it affeds 
 the Confumpdon of her Brandy. There cari 
 for this Reaion l?e very little Vent for it, unlefs^ 
 • by 
 
( 79 ) 
 
 by Exportation to our Colonies on the Con- 
 tinent : but hitherto thofe very Colonies have 
 •had the manufadluring of the French Melaflcs; 
 and to permit them now to be brought in any 
 other Shape than as a raw Material, would be 
 very detrimental to the North America Diftillery : 
 A ftridl Prohibition is therefore laid on all Rum 
 or Spirits of the Produce or Manufacture of any of 
 the Colonies or Plantations in America not in the 
 Poffefficn or under the Dominion of his Majefly^ his 
 heirs or SuccefforSy in order to force the French to 
 fupply the Dc mands of our Colonies for their 
 Melaffes, tho' they can make it into Rum them- 
 felvcs, and tho' the Trade (hould undergo fome 
 Alteration by new Duties and new Regulations. 
 I'hat Trade was indeed in a Situation that re- 
 quired fome Alteradon. By 6 Geo. II. c. 13. 
 a Duty of Six-pence ))tT Gallon was laid upon 
 all foreign Melafles •, but fuch has been the 
 Difregard of all Revenue Laws in America^ that 
 this has produced hardly, any Thing, tho' the 
 Commodity has been imported all the time in 
 greL:t Qiiantities. Inftcad of paying the Duty, 
 a regular Courfe has bev^n fallen into of im- 
 porting it free oF any ; and the Expence of fuch 
 Smuggling has been brought to a Certainty of 
 about Three Half-pence a Gallon ; which was a 
 Charge upon the raw Materials before* it came to 
 the Manufadturer, amounting to one Fourth of 
 the Duty, and deftruflive ot the whole : under 
 this Charge the Diftilleries of North America 
 have flourilhed to a furprizing Degree-, and 
 furely it is to be wiflied that the Burthen now 
 Vpon the Merchandize, fliould yield a Revenue 
 -10 the Publick inftc-ad of a Profit to Smug- 
 glers, 
 
 ''1 
 
"m 
 
 ( 80 ) 
 
 glers, or which is worfe, to Officers of the 
 Crown conniving at Smugglers : but it has been 
 jaid that the excefllve high Duty, impofed by 
 the 6 Geo. II. was the Caufe of the Smuggling, 
 and that nothing wili put a Stop to it but re- 
 ducing the Tax. The Fad is probable; the 
 LegiQature feem to have thought that the Load 
 was heavier than the Trade could bear; and 
 have therefore reduced it from Six-ppnce to 
 Three-pence /tfr Gallon : this ftill is reprefented 
 by fome as too high ; and indeed whaiever Rate 
 is fixed, will in all Probability be cenfured by 
 thofe whom it atfedts ; but fo far is certain, that 
 a Duty may always exceed the Expence of Smug- 
 gling ; for no Man will expofe his Charafter to 
 Reflediion, and his Property to Hazards, with- 
 out the Temptation of Advantages over, the 
 fair Trader. And as Three Halfpence p£y 
 Gallon was the Expence of Smuggling, while 
 a general Relaxation of the Laws againlt it pre- 
 vailed over all that Continent, now that thefe 
 Laws are rigoroufly put into .'i^xecutSon, that 
 Charge will be h'gher in Prciportion to the ad- 
 ditional Rifque of Seizures j and at the fame 
 time the Temptation is lefs by the Difference 
 between Three -pence antl Six- pence. Thefe Rea- 
 fons concur to prove that a Duty confiderably 
 higher than Three Half.pence /)c'r Gallon may 
 be impofed upon Melalfes, without being, by its 
 Excefs, an Inducement to Smugj^ling. The 
 next Queftion is, what the I'rade can bear with- 
 out bemg opprefled by it : It certauily can bear 
 more now it is ellablifhed, than it could in its 
 Beginnings ; it has thriven, it has incrcafed, it 
 conunues wO increale, under a Charge of Three 
 
 Half- 
 
■ '^^''^f^-'^v^Tfti 
 
 Its 
 Ihe 
 
 :h. 
 :ar 
 
 lits 
 
 ic 
 
 ree 
 
 la- 
 
 ( 8i ) 
 
 Hal f-pen.'ie ^^ Gallon*, and as Experience has 
 ihewn that in can fupport Tuch a Burthen, with 
 Eafe, the Prefumption is from thence alone 
 very ftrong, that it is equal to a greater without 
 Inconvenience. The additional Charge upon the ■ 
 Commodity, by the Duty of Three-pence, is '. 
 but Three Half-pence, fo much only being the 
 DifFx:rence between the former and the prefent 
 Price of Importation: and asaGallon of Melafles .' 
 produces a Gallon of Rum, an Additon of Three 
 Half- pence does not appear to us a levere Tax 
 upon a Gallon of Rum. The cheapeft Spirits that 
 are drawn in En^iandy pay a Duty of One Shil- 
 ling and Five-pence Half-penny per Gallon to 
 the Publick ; and to expeft that our fellow Sub- 
 jeds fhould contribute Three-pence per Gallon 
 for their Confumptxon of the fame Commodity, 
 is furely not very unreafonable -, fo much there- 
 fore of the Produce of their Diftilleries as is ne- 
 ceflary for fupplying the Colonies themfelves, is 
 certainly not taxed beyond what it ought to be. . 
 But it is alledged that the Fiftiery, the Guinea^ 
 and the Indian Trade cannot fupport the confe- 
 quential Rife upon Spirituous Liquors, and that 
 both theDiftilleries and thefe Branches of Com- 
 merce will fink under the Burthen together. 
 The Demand for the FiTieries is not to furnifli 
 the American Ships only, but to fupply thole al- 
 fo that are fent for' the Purpofes of fifliing from 
 Great Britain^ and do not carry out with them 
 fufficient Store of Spirituous Liquors. What- 
 ever Quantity the latter take from the American 
 is a Lofs to the: Britijh Dif.illeries ; and if the 
 Effed of this Duty (hould be to diminilh that 
 Quantity, I cannot fee any great national Mi f- 
 
 chief 
 
 I 
 I 
 1 
 
 I 
 
ivii 
 
 C ?2 ) 
 
 chief that would attend it, becaufe I cannot dd* 
 mit that any Manufa6lures (hould be encouraged 
 in th« Colonies, to the Prejudice of thofe cila^ 
 blifhed in the Mother Country. As to the Rum 
 ufed on board the American Ships, that is a 
 Kind of home Confumption i the Duty is bt\ 
 an inconfiderabie Addition to the whole Expence 
 of the Trade, and is certainly not too much for 
 it to bear, as the fame Trade carried on by ' 
 Ships from hence, which take in fufficient Store 
 here, doe*; in this Article actually bear a greater; ' 
 furely the Americans have Advantages enough 
 by their Situation with refpeft to the Fi/hericj^ 
 not to make it neceflary to give their Manu- 
 failures the Preference to our own^ in order to 
 enable them to fifh on Terms ftili fo much bet> 
 ter. As to the Trade upon the Coaft of Guiftea^ 
 that is no longer a Matter of Speculation : the 
 Experiment has been made already of advanc- 
 ing the Price of American Rum there, and has 
 fucceeded. Their Rum ufed to be cheaper tho' 
 but a little cheaper than the Britijh Spirits on 
 the Coaft, but was always greatly prefered by 
 the Natives, not on Account of the Difference 
 of Price, but of its more fiery QiiaHty, which 
 made it more acceptable to the Negroes. The 
 Britijh Spirits are ibid on the Coaft of Guinea at 
 about One Shilling and Two-}ience Half-penny 
 ;per Gallon ; the America?! ufed to be fold at 
 about One Shilling and Two-pence ; but on the 
 Alarnii occafioned lall Year by the Eltablifh^' 
 ment of Cutters, to enforce the Collection of 
 the Six-penny Duty, which then fubfilted, the 
 American Merchants fuddenly raifed their Price 
 from One Shilling and Two-pence to One Shil- 
 
 hng 
 
mm 
 
 (83) 
 
 ling and Six-pence p^r Gallon, and yet prcferved 
 the Preference given by the Negroes to their 
 Spirits. The Rife was m.\de on the Preiump- 
 tion that the Sixpenny Duty would be levied 5 
 at that Time the Reduftion to Three- pence was 
 not forefeen, for they never would have required 
 Four-pence of the Confumers to enable them 
 to defray an additional Hxpence of Three Half- 
 pence only upon the Comniodity : they may 
 now lower it again-, and fixing the Price of 
 their Rum on the Coaft of Guinea at Two Shil- 
 lings and Three- pence Half-penny per Gallon, 
 the Profits of the Merchant will be tljc fame 
 as when he fold for Two Shillings and Two 
 pence; and he may depend on tbePreference being 
 given to the American Spirits, fince it v/as given 
 when they were at Two Shillings and Six-penc# 
 and the Britijk at Two Shiilings and Iv/o-pence 
 Half-penny per Gallon. As to the Indian Trade 
 t\\Q Jmsricam have it much more to themfelves ^ 
 there they havfe no Competitors to apprehend ; 
 stnd the poor Savages are nor, I doubt, ufed to 
 fuch nice Calculations in their Tranfadions with 
 us, as to be very fenHble to a Dilicrence of 
 Three Half- pence on a Ga'lon of Rum. I wi/k 
 they had always been dealt with as fairly as a 
 Rife upon the Commodity will be on the pre- 
 fent Occafion \ and I fhould rejoice could I be 
 fure, that they will never have better Grounds 
 to complain of their Traffic with the EngliJ}i» 
 Upon examining therefore the feveral Places of 
 Vent for the Spirituous* Liq.uors made in America^ 
 there does not fecm mucli Rcafon to tear any 
 great Detriment to the Diltilleries there from this 
 I)iJty. Something more than mere Apprehen- 
 
 M fions 
 
 •• 
 
{ ?4 ) 
 
 fions and general Afiertions are neceflary ta 
 condemn a Tax which appears fo proper on fo 
 many Accounts ; a,nd, unlefs Experience fhould; 
 prove that it is attended with bad Conlequences^ 
 or ftronger Objeftions can be made to it than, 
 have come to my Knowledge, I cannot join in, 
 foreboding Evils that I do not forefe? ; and. 
 \vhich, at the worft, amount to no more than, 
 that the Colonies will not be able to manufacflurc 
 a Material which they purchafe of the French, 
 vpon better Terrns than the Inhabitants o^ Great. 
 Britain C2Ln manufl^<5lure B>iii/Ii l^roduce. The 
 Colonics may follow the Exarhpie of tlieir Mo- 
 ther Country, and dilUl Spirits from their own 
 Corn. Jhis will be a Confumption of that 
 Commodity in Compenfation ol the Lofs, whicU 
 it is faid they will fuftain in the Vent of it to 
 •the French IQands. But will they lofe that or 
 any other Article of Commerce by this Burthen 
 en the Return they receive for them ? Are not 
 the Demands of the Frc«tAforNeceflaries? Can 
 they now, that they have ceded all North- Ameri- 
 ca, can they now, tho' they could not before, 
 fupply tliemfelves from any other than from our 
 Colonies, with Provifions and with Lumber ? 
 Elad thev no Returns to make, mull not they 
 purchafe thefe NecefTaries with Money ? and 
 can they rtfufe to make this the Return, as far 
 as it wil! go, upon our own Terms, fince they 
 have no other way to dil'pofe of it ? The Irade 
 of the I'Vcft India JQands, whoever tliey bf long 
 to, is always under the Controul of the Nation 
 that is in Pofleflion of North Jmerica \ they de- 
 pend upon that Continent for the Subfiliance 
 ot their Inhabitants, and for the Means ol dif- 
 
 po'inj^ 
 
 ' 
 
 IL. 
 
^^=T5ia«aS!T!;(tK!eiSKte*BJ?( 
 
 ( 85 ) 
 
 ipofing of their Produce, as they can no where 
 cAC^ procufe in any Qiiantity, or at any toler- 
 able Price, the Calks and other Materials that 
 are neceflary for that Purpofe. Wc may rcje6t 
 their Melafles ; but they cannot refufe our Pro- 
 vifions and cur Laimber -, and now that the 
 whole Continent, which produces ihofe Articles, 
 is ceded to Great- Britni7i,, the French Iflands 
 are far more dependant than they were upon 
 her, for their Support and for their Commerce ; 
 there is a greater Balance of Trade againft 
 them; a laiger Proportion of the Profits they 
 'make upon their Produce, mull be expended in 
 the Purchafe of tl.ofe Neceffaries, which Nori'j 
 America alone can I'upply j and they, arc on thefe 
 and many other Accounts, far leis valuable to 
 Frar:cc than they were while flie retained her 
 Colonies on the Continent. They will fink Hill 
 lovver in their Value, when the Demands of 
 Thrih America fliall decreafe, as the ceded Iflands 
 improve j for the French Plantations have hither- 
 to produced Coffcf,Cotton, Cocoa, Ginger, Incii- 
 go, and Pimento, in greater Qtiantities than 
 trj' bt- caufc their Planters are poorer, and their 
 
 T_.. n a lower Starje of Cultivation. Thefe 
 
 Articr"', exclufivc of fuch of them as may be 
 raifed in the Fl(^*idas^ will for the fame Rcafons 
 he moll attended to, by the firft Settlers on th? 
 cedtd Iflands \ and as foon as they attain to the 
 r^.< ago/ Sugar, they will again interfere with 
 the k^^mch m the great Article of MeiafTes ; as 
 it is well known that the Cane yields much 
 larger Quantities of Melades when planCed on 
 frelh Lands i and that the Reafon why our 
 llUnds do not produce lb much as the French, is 
 
 M 2 onjy 
 
( 86 ) 
 
 Cnly bccaufe the Lands are more exhauftcd ift 
 our than in their Plantations. I'he Sugar itlclf, 
 which thele Iflands will produce, will be a fur- 
 ther Diminution of the Demands of our Colo- 
 nies upon thofe of the Prench \ and the lefs thofe 
 Demands are, fo much the more muft thei^ 
 Plantations be at our Mercy, in fuch Articles as 
 we may ftill have Occafion for from them ; whili 
 their Want of v/hat we alone can furnidi, can 
 never dimiiiifh, unlefs their Colonies decline. 
 The Duty of One Pound Two Shillings on all 
 foreign white or clayM Sugars, imported into 
 the Briiif:) Colonics, which is impofed by the 
 A(5t of the lafl: Seffion;, cannot be complained 
 of by the JmericanSy fo far as their own Con- 
 fumption is afi'cifled by it, fince the Inhabitants 
 of Great Brilam have chcarfully fubmittcd their 
 Confumption to the like Regulation, and for 
 the Benefit of the fVeft hidia Plantations, have, 
 laid a much higher Duty upon French than up- 
 on BritijJi Sugars imported into Great Britain : 
 but it is objed^ed to this Tax, that it will hurt 
 the Trade of the North America'/ts^ as Carriers 
 of the French Sugars to Europe ; a Trade pro ■ 
 fitabh* initfelf, and promoting Navigation ; on 
 which Accounts it is faid, a Drawback of great 
 Part or of the whole of the Duty, (hould be 
 ■allowed on Re-exportation. Could this be 
 done without opening Opportunities for the 
 greatcfl: Frauds on the Revenue, it might bf 
 proper ; but it is well known that no Indul- 
 gence to Trade is fo much abufed to the preju- 
 dice, both of the Revenue and of Commerce, 
 as the Allowance of Drawbacks here j and ic 
 
V* 
 
 U 
 
 ( 87 ) 
 
 ivill be liable to greater Abufes in America^ uii- 
 lefs fome more cflcdual Method than has hither- 
 to been pradifed, could be found to prevent 
 them: and after all it remains to be proved^ 
 that the ObjeA is grnit enough to jviltify the 
 dangerous Experiment of making in any Shape 
 an Allowance of a Drawback; ihz North Ameri- 
 eans had indeed formerly the Carriage of the 
 French Sugars to a confiderable Amount ; but 
 the French have for many Years carried the 
 greater Part themfelves. This Duty too, it 
 mult be obferved, is only on the White and the 
 Ciay'd, that is, the manufadured Sugars : the 
 Kffed of it m:»y be in fome Degree, to induce 
 the French to fend their Sugars in r. lowe:* Srate 
 of Manufadure to North Americay and Lhen they 
 will hi' free of Duty : the Carriage of thefe is' 
 not alFccted : as to the Carriage of the others, if 
 what is left of that Trade could be retained 
 without expofing the Revenue and the fair 
 Trader to LolfL-s, tiiey ought to be free from,, 
 it certainly would be proper to do it ; the only 
 Doubt is whether it h.t poflible. 
 
 Thefe are the Icveral Duties impofed by Par- 
 liament during the lalt SelTions, upon the Con- 
 fumption of Atiierica •, and they appear to havo 
 been judicioufly cholen, not only with aViewta 
 the Revenue, which they will produce \ but for 
 other, and m my Opinion, greater political 
 Purpofes, which each of them will refpedlively 
 anfwer; and oefides thofe alr.idy mentionecf, 
 there is one general Etild that will rofult from 
 the wh<>le, vvhicli will ue of the utmoft Impor- 
 tance to the 'T rade of Great Britain, and to the 
 Conncdlion between her and her Colcaics , the* 
 
 the 
 
( 88 ) 
 
 Hie Duties are very low, the Articles ort which 
 they are laid are numerous, and comprehend all 
 that have been the Subjeds of a contraband 
 Trade, with thofe Parts of Europe which the 
 Colonies are not allowed to trade to. The bring- 
 ing thefe to a regular Entry and Account^ will 
 be the Means of deteding and of preventing 
 the illicit Proceedings that have hitherto pre- 
 vailed i and not only fupport and encouragfe the 
 Britijli Manufaftures, but maintain and im- 
 prove the Commerce and Navigarion, both of 
 Great Britain and her Colonies, tho' the Mer- 
 chandize fhould be the Produce of neither. la 
 other Countries Cuftom-houfe Duties are for 
 the moft Part, little more than a Branch of the 
 Revenue; In the Colonies they are a political 
 Regulation, and enforce the Obfervance of thofe 
 wile Laws to which the great Increafe oi our 
 Trade and naval Power are principally owing. 
 The Aim of thofe Laws is to confine the European 
 Commerce of the Colonics to the Mother Coun- 
 try: to provide that their moft valuable Commo- 
 dities Ihall be exported either to Great Britain or 
 to Britijh Plantations ; and to fccurc the Navi- 
 gation of all American Exports and Imports to 
 BritiJJi Ships and BritiJIi Subjects only. It is the 
 Policy of every Nation to prohibit all foreign 
 Trade with their Plantations : it has been the 
 Policy of this almoft as far back as we have had 
 any Colonies worth regarding ; the firft' and 
 great A6t of Navigation being nearly co-^val 
 with their ExiRence as a People; before that 
 Time the EngliJJi of the IVejl-Indies were but 
 Adventurers, and the Inhabitants of North 
 America were but a few unphappy Fugitives, who 
 
 had 
 
a 
 
 t 
 It 
 
 ( 89 ) 
 
 had wandere(i thither to enjoy their civil and re^ 
 ligious Liberties, which they were deprived of at 
 home. The Plftradions of this Country had in- 
 deed increafed their Numbers, but they were 
 ftill ftparate, weak, necefiiltous, and truly in- 
 fant Colonies, nurfed by perpetual Supplies 
 from the Mother Country, expofed to every 
 Hazard, fuftained with Difficulty, and only be- 
 ginning to give hopes that they might hereafter 
 be what they now are. Upon this Profpefl the 
 A(51: of Navigauon form'd their Dependance into 
 Connedion, and gave a Sandlion to the Emi- 
 gration and the Expence occafioncd by fup- 
 porting thtm j for Colonies are only Settlements 
 made in diilant Parts of the World, for the Im- 
 provement of Trade •, but if they were allowed 
 to transfer ths Benefits of their Commerce to 
 any other Country than that from which they 
 came, they would deftroy the very Purpofes of 
 their Eftablifliment : and it is but an equitable 
 Return for the AccommodatioFi which has been 
 provided for them, and the Emoluments they 
 have received, that they, the Subjects ftiiiof the 
 fame Country, fhould continue to a6t as they 
 mult have a6ied, had they continued its Inhabi- 
 tants, and that their Produce and their Con- 
 fumption fliculd be for the Benefit of that 
 Country, in Preference to any other. No Na- 
 tion would tolerate Colonies upon any other 
 Conditions : It would he fuffering themfelves 
 to be exhaufled, impoverifhed, and weakened, 
 in fupport of a People, who might divert their 
 Commerce to the Advantage of another, perhaps 
 pf a Rival, and the Mother Country would be 
 
 ruined 
 
( 9° ) 
 
 ruined by the Profperity of her ColontcJ, The 
 A<51 of Navigation therefore is founded upoir 
 Right as well as Policy; the Principles of it 
 have been adopted and confirmed in all our 
 fubfequent Laws ; the Injuntftions it contains 
 have never been departed from, without vny- 
 cogent Reafons, and then only in a few particulai*- 
 Inllances. I'he Effei^s of it have been the In- 
 creafe of our Trade and Navigation \ and all 
 Evafions therefore of this, and the other Ads of 
 Trade and Navigation, are dcllruQive of what 
 every Subje(5t of thefe Kingdoms fliould pay 
 the utmofl Attention to; for tho* Individuab 
 may gain a Profit, tho' Confumcrs may 
 procure at a cheaper Rate the Commoditic* 
 they want, by the Breach of tlicle Laws, yet the 
 Interefts, Ido not mean the Revenue only, but 
 the efTcntial Interefts of the Commonweal arc 
 thereby facrificed to private, partial, and trifling 
 KmoKiments, uncertain in th'jir Nature, tem- 
 porary in Duration, and ruinous in the End. 
 Even the Colonics themfelves fufi^er from' tha 
 Advantages made by fome of their Inhabitants v 
 not only in theDiftrefs thefe iniquitous Practices 
 bring upon their fair Traders •, in the Lofs of 
 Employment to their Shipping-, and in thePer« 
 verfiori of the Induftry, and the Depravation of 
 the Morals of To many of their People ; but 
 mod materially in depriving their Mother Coun- 
 try (fo far as fuch Fraftices extend) of thofe Re- 
 iburces, which the Commerce of her Colonies 
 iecured to herfelf would conflantly furnifh, for 
 their Benefit and her own ; when her Trade and 
 her Manufadtures by thefe Means decUne, lier 
 people decreafc, and her Power and her Re- 
 
 venuca 
 
( 91 ) 
 
 V^nne^ dimlnifli •, her Efforts rtiuft be Co much 
 the fainter for general or partial GootI, licr A- 
 bility to raife within herfelf the Supplies which 
 the Support, the Defence^ and the Improve- 
 ment of herijvaft Fmpire require, is fo far Icfs; 
 and her Demands for Aniltance mufl: confrquent- 
 ly be greater upon her Colonies, who can an- 
 Iwer th'-fe Demands only by opprefTing their fair 
 Traders and their honeft Conlumers. It might 
 not [)erhaps be dilTicult to flievv that Smuggling 
 has not lower'd the I'rice upon the v/hole Con- 
 fumption of A'tierica taken together, tho' parti- 
 cular Articles may in Ibme Phices and to ibmePer- 
 fons have come cheaper. The Eflfe<fts it has 
 h?.d upon otiiers, that are not Co particularly the 
 Ohjed: of it, and the general Efftdls of it upon 
 all Markets, more x.\r\n counterbalance this Ad- 
 V3intage •, but thefe are too many and too great 
 to be di. iflTcd at prefent. It may be fufHcient 
 here, jull to fuggell: the Propofuion to thole 
 who are incHned to exam ne it, and to fupporc 
 it only .'/ith oblierving, th^t the falutary Pro- 
 vifjons c; the Acfti of 1 de and Navigation, 
 are iickno\ .edged by the mou repucaule and the 
 mod confuifrate Inhabitants of t' Colonies, 
 iiijd that they conttantly .'.epiorcthe little Regard 
 that has been paid to them '^y their lelf ir.tetelte.l 
 and inadvertent Countrymen. To them there- 
 fere, and to every true Lover of hs Country, 
 v/iiatever Part of the Britijh Dornirions he in- 
 iinbits^ the Aft of the ialt Seljjons of Pailia- 
 jr^ent, which, by its general Tend-ncy and par- 
 ticular Provifion ,; iuJif greatly corroborate thofc: 
 Lawi, will be a nrUt welcome Rl .nilarion of 
 Commerce. The contraband Trade that i^ car- 
 
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£^ 
 
 
 
ried on there, is a Subjedl of the moft fcrioui 
 Confideration j and is become a much more 
 alarming Circumftance, than that Incrcafe of 
 Wealth, People, and Territory, which raifes Ap- 
 prehenfions in many Perfons that the Colonies 
 may break off their Connexions with Great Bri- 
 tain: That Connexion is adhially brokertalready, 
 whereever the Adts of Navigation are difregarded;:. 
 and for fo much of their Trade as is thereby di- 
 verted from its proper Channel, they are no 
 longer Briiijh ColonieSj but Colonics ot the 
 Countries they trade to. Thithef they carry 
 their Produce •, from thence they receive their 
 Supply; and Trad« and Navigation flourifh 
 there, by an illicit Intercourfe with the Britiftt. 
 Pkntatiouns. The Extent of this Commerce, 
 as it is in its Nature private, cannot be certainlyr 
 known •, but that it is now cariif.d to a danger- 
 ous Excefs, is an indifputable Fadl. Ships are 
 continually paffing between our Plantations and^ 
 IIollaKd, Hamhur^^ and mod of the Ports en 
 the German Ocean, and in the Baltic^ d\\ dired- 
 Communication, with which, txciufive of the 
 Intervention of Great BriUiin^ is illegal. At 
 other Places, which the Ships of the Plantations 
 are allowed to refort to without touching here, 
 for particular Purpofes, the Licence is abufed, 
 and Commodities not permitted to be fent to our 
 C^olonies, but thro' this Country, are imme- 
 diately carried from thence -, and great Quan- 
 tfties of £«rff^^^«Comm'odities are bcfides con- 
 ihntly fmuggied from foreign Plantations intoi 
 ours. The Concurrence of all thele feveral 
 Modes of evading the Adls of Navigation, can' 
 alone accour.t for tlie Demands uf the Colonies- 
 
 upon 
 
I 
 
 ( 93 ) 
 
 iupon their Mother Country, being vaftly dif« 
 proportioned to their Cqnfurrption. The Half 
 Subfidy retained here upon the finer Linens 
 amounts to no more than about 300/. per ^nn. 
 and yet no one will venture to reprefent the 
 Linen Manufactory of North America to be in To 
 flourifhing a State, as to produce all that the 
 Inhabitants iife above that fmali-Quantity. The 
 whole annual Export of Wine from hence to 
 the Plantations, fails greatly fljort of an Hun- 
 dred Ton ; can the Madeira and the Weftern 
 Iflands furnilhed the.Rpftof their Confumption? 
 The Tea that is fent from 'hence docs net gene- 
 rally exceed One Hundred and >Fifty Thoyfand 
 Pounds v/eight per Ann. tho' by the b^ft Com- 
 putation that can be made, the Colonies Ynufl 
 confume One Million Five Hundred Thoufanci 
 Pounds Weight in the Year. The Dutch, the 
 French J the Swedi^, ihe' Danijh, Eaji India 
 Companies, fupply them with nine tenths of 
 their Confymption, to the Prejudice of th^ 
 Engiyh Company, of their Trade and their Na- 
 vigation. Many other Fa^Sls, fupported by the 
 concurrent Tellimony of all who have ever re- 
 fided in the Plantations, might be adduced to 
 prove, the great Extent cf their illicit Com- 
 merce in European Commothties, (including 
 ^hofe which muft be conveyed thro* Europe to 
 them,) and juftify the common Calculation that 
 the foreign Goods illegally run into the Colonies 
 amount in value to no lefs than 700000/, per 
 Annum, which exceeds by far the Value of thofe 
 foreign Goods that are conveyci thither thro' 
 Qreat Britain> 
 
 ,N z 
 
 The 
 
 iK. 
 
( 94 ) 
 
 The Supprrflion of To enormous arid fo daw-: 
 gerous an Evil, is a great Object of State^ 
 which has been long, far too long neglefted : 
 the Laws that have been made for preventing ir^ 
 were funk into Difiife, and the due Execution 
 of them is beconic obnoxious to thofe who have 
 been fuffered to contemn them wii;ii Impunity, 
 That Licentioufneis however is now at an 
 f^nd J. the j^eform that was neceflary, has I hear 
 been made among the OfHcers of the Crown. 
 The Civil, the iVIilitary, the naval Powers, ap- 
 pear to have been all exerted, for the fame falu- 
 tary Purpo.fes ^ and the Lcgiflative Authority 
 has in the great A<fl, that has been fo often meni 
 tioned, added Vigour and Elfcft to the former 
 Laws of Trade and Navigation : the particulaij 
 Claufes that belong to the immediate Subje6ls of 
 this A<51 only, demand the Attention of thofe who 
 are concerned in the Branches of Trade, which 
 they refpeftively regulate i but are too numerous 
 and too minute to be enlarged upon at prcfent. 
 It is lufHcient toobferve, that they are all con- 
 ducive to the fame End with thofe more general 
 Provifions, which on Account of their extenfiv^ 
 Importance, are univerfally interefting. 
 
 The Policy of prohibiting certain enumerated 
 Goods, from being exported out of the Plan- 
 tations, except to lome other Britijh Plantation, 
 or to Great Britain, was introduced by the firlt 
 A(!l of Trade and Navigation, and has been 
 adopted in many fubfequent Statutes. The 
 enumerated Commodities were thofe which ap- 
 peared at that Time the moft important to ie-s 
 cure to Britijh Traders only -, but the great Im- 
 provements of tbs Colpni^s having produced. 
 
 othws 
 
( 95 ) 
 
 Others equally valuable, and the Iat€ Accefllon!! 
 of Territory having given us the Monopoly of 
 fome, which we have hitherto only fhared with 
 the French^ the Reftraint is upon the fame Princi^ 
 pies of Policy extended to thefe alfo, and Coffee, 
 Pimento, Cocoa Nuts, Whale Fins, Raw Silk, 
 Hides and Skins, Pot and Pearl Afhes, are by the 
 A61 of the lafl Seffions added to the enumerated 
 Commodities, becaufethey are necefTary for our 
 own Confumption or Manufadlures j Iron and 
 Lumber, tho* of eqi.al Utility, yet being a 
 great Article of Trade, in foreign Plantations, 
 are allowed to be difpofcd of there ; but are not 
 to be carried to any other Part of Europe^ ex- 
 cept to Great Britc.in. 
 
 A Bond has been always required for every 
 Vefiel loading enumerated Goods, by which the 
 Parties concerned obliged tliemfelves to comply 
 with the Laws that relate to them ; but when 
 non-enumerated Goods only have been fliipped, 
 no Security has ever been taken for the proper 
 Difpofal of the Returns ufually made from the 
 foreign Plantations : and great Quantities of 
 foreign Melaffes and Syrups have been clandef- 
 tinely run into the Colonies, the Importers of 
 which would have been detercd from attempting 
 to fmuggle, if they had been l.able to the Pe- 
 nalties ot their Bonds upon Deteflion. A Bond 
 therefore is by this Act required on the loading 
 of non-eiiumerated Goods alfo, with Condition, 
 that if any foreign JJvielafles or Syrups ihall be 
 taken on board in Return, the fame fliall be 
 brought to Great Britain^ or to a Britijh Plan- 
 tation, and the Mafter of the VefTel fliall, on 
 his Arrival, make a true Report of his. Cargo. 
 ^ ' But 
 
( 96 ) 
 
 But wliether Bond had been given In cither of 
 thefe Cafes, or what were the Conditions of it, 
 could not be known at any other Place than th« 
 Port from whence the Veflcl departed, if the 
 Matter of fuch Veflel were not obliged to take 
 out a Certificate of his having complied with 
 the Law which requires fuch Security : that 
 Precaution therefore is added with refpc^l bota 
 to enumerated and non-enumerated Goods ; and 
 it is enforced by making all Veflels liable to 
 ^eifure, who fhall enter into any Briajb Port, 
 or be found within two Leagues of the Shores 
 of the Colonies, without fuch a CertiBcate, 
 
 And for the further Prevention of the Smug- 
 gling of foreign Rum, Sugars, and Melafles, 
 which are great Objects ot clandeftine Trade, 
 it is provided, that whenever any of thofe Com- 
 modities are (hipped, as the Growth of a Briti/b 
 Plantation, it Hiall be proved upon Oadj that 
 they are fo i and a Certificate of luch Oath hav- 
 ing been taken, fhall be given to the Matter of 
 the Vettll, who miHl produce it at the Port o4' 
 Delivery, or the Goods will be liable to Sei* 
 zure. 
 
 All thefe Provifions are however but Guards 
 jigaintt: clandettine Importations : the Goods 
 would be to a Degree in Safety as foon as they 
 were landed, and might be carried out again 
 along the neighbouring Coatts with Security, if 
 theVigilanceofthe Law flopped here. The Dan> 
 ger therefore of an illititCommerce is continued 
 beyond the firft Importation, and the Vent of 
 fmuggled Goods is laid under ftill further Diffi- 
 •culties and Dilcouragements ; for no Mcrchari- 
 dize Vv'hatevcr can now be conveyed by Sea 
 
 fro:^ 
 
( 97 ) 
 
 fiom one Colony to another, without a Suffe- 
 rance, upon which a Cocket is *^o be made out, 
 particularly fpecifying the Goods, and the Du- 
 ties that have been paid thereon, if they are 
 liable to any j anvl every coafling VefTel not 
 fiirnifhed with fuch a CocKet, may be feizcd en 
 her Arrival at the Port of her Deftination, or 
 if Ihe is met by a Cruizer, witl.in two Leagues 
 of the Shore of ar.y of the Colonies. 
 
 Thefc feveral additional Precautions will, 
 certainly contribute very much to the Suppref- 
 fion of t>hat illicit Trade which is carried on by 
 Britijh Ships and Britijh Subjefts ; but they do- 
 not apply to foreign Vefiels, which being already 
 ■pKohibited from entering the Ports of the Colo- 
 nics, only approach the Coafts, and watch theit 
 Opportunities tc land their comraband Cargoes.. 
 For the Prevention of this Pradlice, the Pro-^ 
 vifions of the Britijh hovering Acts are extended 
 to America^ and every foreign Veflel, which (hall 
 be found at anchor or hovering within two^ 
 Leagues of the Shores of any of the Planta- 
 tions, and fhall not depart or proceed on her 
 Voyage to fome foreign Port within Forty-eighu 
 Hours after Requifition made to depart by a 
 Cuftom-houfe Officer, is ordered to be leized^. 
 and condemned, whether Bulk, fi-iall have been* 
 broken or not, the French Ships employed in the 
 Newfoundland Fifliery, within the Limits pre- 
 Icribed to them, only excepted. 
 
 Bur that the necefTary Hxception, in their 
 Favour, may not be abufed, and that the Iflands 
 of 0'/. Pierre and Mwuelon^ which were grufited 
 to the freftih, as. a bare Shelter for their FiHier- 
 men, and vvhica are in themlelYes,. i'iom their 
 
 Barrcu 
 
 if 
 
 If 
 
( 98 3 
 
 fearrennefs and the Snallnefs of their Extent, 
 fit for that Purpofe alone, may not be made 
 "Warehoiiffs tor ru|)p]ying the Britifh Colonk-s 
 with French Merchandize, to the Prejudice ot" 
 our.Minufudlurcs and Navigation, anu the En- 
 couragrment of their Fifheries ; a vigrorous 
 Ciaulc lubjecfts to Forfeiture every Britijh Vt-fTcl 
 concerned in any Trade whntroeVer with thefc 
 Ifl.ind", or hovering on their Coafts> or dif^ 
 covered to have been there. ^ T ; .v:?} '>i>H'r 
 
 The Attention of the Legidature has net 
 however been confined to idmerica : Frauds prac- 
 tifed in Britain with- a Viev/ to a clandeftine 
 Trade in the Colonies, have fallen under their 
 Notice ; and to prevent them it has been found 
 ncceflary to regulate the Trade from lience to 
 the Colonies. It has been a common Pradlice 
 for Britijli Ships provided with a Cargo in fo- 
 reign Countries, which was pretended to be de- 
 fined for a foreign Plantations juil to touch at 
 ibme Out-port of this Kingdom, and there to 
 take fmall Parcels of Goods on bo.ird, which 
 they entered for a Britijh Colony : Under cover 
 of thele, however inconfiderabie, they gained 
 Admittance into the American Ports, and there 
 Opportunities were not wanting to run the whole 
 Cargoes on fliore : This pernicious Contrivance 
 to evade the Law is now defeated, as no Ship 
 can from henceforth be cleared out from any Bri-* 
 tijh lor any American Port, unlefs her whole 
 Cargo be laden here; and all Goods which 
 fhall be found on board, and which are not ex- 
 prefly defcribed in the Cocket which the Mafttr 
 is obliged to take, arc liable to be fcized. 
 
 The 
 
 , \ 
 
)) 
 
 ir 
 
 ( 99 ) 
 
 ■Tlie Power of feizing Ships wirliin ce*'t.i.in 
 Diftances of the Shore (which as haf. been fcen) 
 is given by this Aft in To many Inftanccs, will 
 make the Sea Guard of Cruizers and CAUtors 
 which was eftabhlhed before, and has been of 
 lingula/ Ufc already, dill more elTcftual j To 
 keep up a Body of Seamen fit for Service, and 
 not to keep them in Service, is impracticable : 
 They will not be Seamen long, if adlive Bufi- 
 ncfs is not found for them ; and the employing 
 therefore part of that Number which Parlia- 
 ment has thouglii: proper fhould be maintained 
 during the Peace, in the Prevention of Smug- 
 gling both here and in the Colonies, conduce:? 
 at the fame time to the great Purpofe of fup- 
 porting a naval Power, to the Improvement of 
 the Revenue, and to the Regulation of Com- 
 merce, The Oriicers and the Men who are en- 
 gaged in this Duty are encouraged to perform 
 it with Spirit and Alacrity by the Prizes they 
 may expedt j and the Check that has hitherto 
 flackened their Vigilance, arifing from the Dif- 
 ficulties that attended Profecutions, and the 
 Uncertainty of the Shares they would entitle 
 themfelves to, which were fo varied in different 
 A6lsof Parliament, that it was become a Sci- 
 ence to underitand them, is removed by the A<51 
 of the laft Seflions : The fame Forms of Pro- 
 ceedings being now eftablifhed for all Proll'Cu- 
 tions, and one certain Divifion being now made 
 of all Seifures. The Cuftom-houfe Officers 
 (hare the Benefits of this Amendment of the 
 Law, and of the fevtral othe r J-Jicilicies piven 
 to them in the Execution ofymeir refpeillvs 
 OiBces i while on the other hand the Perfor* 
 
 O 
 
 rr^iiPW 
 
•v^mm^^mf^ 
 
 U 
 
 ( 100 ) 
 
 mance of th-eir Duty is enforced by additional 
 Penalties on the Breacii of it. ►^ 
 
 Thefe general Regulations and the particuJar 
 Provifions of the Adt in many Inltances that re- 
 quired fuch fpecial Claufes, concurring with the 
 vigorous Meafures taken by Government to in- 
 Force Obedience to all the Laws j and with the 
 zealous Exertion of the civil, the military, and 
 the naval Powers in the Colonies, as permitted 
 encouraged, or required by Law to afTift in the 
 Prevention of Smuggling, give rrafonableG round 
 to hope that that important Objeft of Policy, 
 of Commerf.e, and of Kevenue^the Suppreflioa 
 of the contraband l\'ade which has prevailed 
 fuch a length of time in the Colonies, will in a 
 great mcafure be attained. As to the Revenue 
 which the new Impofiiions wrlJ produce, I fup- 
 pofe it is very difficult, if not impoffible to 
 form any Calculation of its Amount : I will 
 not even hazard a Conjecture upon it, as I c»n~ 
 iiot prefume that I Ihould be right -, and I 
 Ihouid be forry to be wrong. Thus far how- 
 ever may be fafely affirmed, that Duties fo low, 
 and now firft laid, will not at pirefent contribute 
 largely to the Exigencies of the Public •, for 
 inconfiderable as they are, the Payment of them 
 will be often avoid«:d by Frauds and Subdlties, 
 which no Penetration can forefee, and Experi- 
 ence only can dilcover and prevent. On the 
 Other hand, they will be an improving Reve- 
 nue ; becaufe chey are laid upon numerous Ar- 
 ticles of general Confumption among an en- 
 creafing People -, and if not produ6tive of a 
 rrreat tund immediately, will be at Jeaft a wide 
 Foundation for a confiderable future Revenue ; 
 
 but 
 
low, 
 Tibutc 
 : -, for 
 them 
 tilties, 
 xperi- 
 n the 
 Reve- 
 s Ar- 
 ^n en- 
 of a 
 wide 
 lenue ; 
 but 
 
 ( JO' ) 
 
 but upon ho Calculation can it be fLippofed to 
 be equal to the Demand that mull be made up- 
 on the Colonies j and tliercfore a further Tax 
 ha5 been propoled -, it has been even refulved 
 by a Vote of the Iloufe of Commons, that it 
 raay be proper to charge certain Stamp Duties in 
 the Plantations ; and lierc the I^egiflature (loped 
 laft ScfTions out of Tendcrnefs to the Colonies. 
 A Stamp Duty, tho* often ufcd in the Planta- 
 tions for the Purpofes of their own Govern- 
 ment, has never been impoled there by Autho- 
 rity of Parliament, and time has been therefore 
 very properly allowed, to cnquiie whether it 
 will be attended with any Inconveniences, ^nd 
 to provide Expedietits ot Prevention or Reme- 
 dy ; but I believe the more it is examined, fo 
 much the more clearly will it appear, that this 
 Mode of Taxation is the eafieft:,the mofi: equal 
 and the mofl: certain that can Ix: eholen : The 
 Duty falls chiefly upon Property ; but it is 
 fpread lightly over a great Variety of Subjefls, 
 and lies heavy upou n(3ne : The A61: executes 
 itfelf by annulling the Inltruments that have 
 not paid the fmali Sums they arc charged with; 
 and the Tax thus fupportcd and fecured, is 
 coUedted by few Ofikcrs, wi-thout Expence to 
 the Crown, or OpprelTion on the Peopl?. 
 
 The Revenue that may be raifed by the Du- 
 ties which have been already, or by thefe if they 
 Ihould be here.ifter impofcd, are all equally ap- 
 plied by Parliament, tozv^rrds defraying the necef- 
 jary Expences of defending^ proie5ling^ and fecu- 
 ri>7g, the Britijh Colonies and Vlantati&m in Ame- 
 rica : Not that on the one hand an 4,nerican 
 Revenue might not have been applied to diffe- 
 
 O 2 /ent 
 
'rr 
 
 ( 102 ) 
 
 rent Purpofcs i or en the other, thr.t Great Bri^ 
 tain is to contribute nothing to thefe ; Tl>e very 
 Words of the Aft of Parliament and of the Re- 
 folurion of the Houfe of Commons imply, that 
 the whole of the Expencc is not to b^ charged 
 upon the Colonies : They are under no Obliga- 
 tion to provide for this or any other particular 
 national Expence j neither can they claim any 
 Exemption trom general Burthens ; but being a 
 part ot the Brililh Dominions, are to fliare all 
 neceflaiy Services with the reft. This in Ame- 
 ri(a does indeed firfl claim their Attention : 
 They are immediately, they are principally con- 
 cerned in it i and the Inhabitants of their Mo- 
 ther-Country would juftly and loudly complain, 
 if after all their Efforts for the Benefit of the 
 Colonirs, when every Point is gained, and eve- 
 ry wifh accomptiflied, they, and they alone 
 fliould be called upon ftill to anfwer every ad- 
 ditional Demand, that the Prefervation of thefe 
 Advantages, and the Protedlion of the Colonies 
 from future Dangers, may occafiort : Great Bri- 
 fatn has a Right at all Times, fhc is under a 
 NecefTuy, upon this Occafion, to demsnd their 
 Afiiftance i but ftill ftie requires it in the Man- 
 ner moft fuitabie to their Circumftances •, for by 
 appropriating this Revenue towards the Defence 
 and Security of the Provinces where it is raifed, 
 the Produce of it is kept in the Country, the 
 People are not deprived of the Circulation of 
 vvhr.t Cafh they have amongft themfelves, and 
 thereby the revereftOppreflion of an/f;»mV<z«Tax, 
 that of draining the Plantations of Money which 
 they c^:: fo ill fpare, is av'oided. What Part they 
 ought to bear of the national Expence, that is 
 
 necel^ary 
 
 ft ► 
 
 il 
 
 fiiT.i 
 
-y 
 
 is 
 
 -IT 
 
 i 
 
 ( 103 )■ 
 
 receflfaiy for their Proteflion, mud depend up- 
 on tlieir Ability, which is not yet lufficiently 
 known : to the whole they are certainly un- 
 equal, that would include all the military and 
 all the naval Ellablilhrnenr, all Fortification» 
 which it may be thought proper to ercdt, the 
 the Ordnance and Stores that mud be turnifhed, 
 and the Provifions which it is ncceffary to fupply ; 
 but furely a Part of this great Difburfcment, 
 a large Proportion at Icaft of fome particular 
 Branches of it, cannot be an mtoleiable Bur- 
 then upon fuch a Number of Subjects, upon 
 a Territory fo cxtenfive, and upon the Wealth 
 which they colledlively poflefs. As to the Quota 
 which each Individual mull pay, it will be diffi- 
 cult to perfuadc the Inhabitants of this Country, 
 where the needieft Cottager pays out of h..? Pit- 
 tance, however fcanty, and how hardly foever 
 earned, our high Duties of Cuftoms and Excife 
 in the Price of all his Confumption; it will be 
 difficult I fay, to perfuade thofe who fee, who 
 fuffer, or who relieve fuch Oppreffion i that the 
 Wejl Indian out of his Opulence, and the Norik 
 American out of his Competency, can contribute 
 no more than it is now pretended they can afford 
 towards' tlie Expence of Services, the Bene- 
 fit of which, as a Part of this Nation they fhare, 
 and as Colonifls they peculiarly enjoy. They 
 have indeed their own civil Governments befide* 
 to fupport ; but Great Britain has her civil Go- 
 vernment too ; flie has -^Ifo a large feace Efta- 
 bhfimient to maintain ; and the national Debt, 
 tho' lb great a Part, and that the heavieft Pare 
 ^f it has been incurred by a War undertaken 
 
 for 
 
if 
 
 ( 104 ) 
 
 for the P otevn:ion of the Colonies, lies folely flill 
 upon her. 
 
 The Realbnablenefs, and even the Necefil^y 
 of requiring an American Revenue being ad- 
 mitted, the Right of the Mother Country to 
 impofe fuch a l3uty upon her Colonies, if duly 
 confidered, cannot be queftioned : they claim it 
 is true the Privilege, which is common to all 
 BritiJIi Subje(5ts, of being taxed only with their 
 uwn Confent, given by their Reprefentatives -, 
 and may they ever enjoy the Privilege in all its 
 Extent ; May this facred Pledge of Liberty be 
 preferved inviolate, to the utmoft Verge of our 
 Dominions,and to the latelt Page of our Hiftory ! 
 but let us not limit the legiflative Rights of the 
 Britijh People to Subjc<5ls of Taxation only : 
 No new Law whatever can bind us that is made 
 ■without the Concurrence of our Reprefentatives. 
 The A6ls of Trade and Navigation, and all 
 other Ads that relate cither to ourfelves or to 
 the Colonies, are founded upon no other Au- 
 thority J they are not obhgatory if a Stamp Adt 
 is not, and every Argument in fupport of an 
 Exemption from the Supcrintendance of the 
 Britijh Parliament in the one Cafe, is equally 
 applicable to the others. The Conftitution 
 knows no Diftindion ; the Colonies have never 
 attempted to make one ; but have acquiefced 
 under feverul parliamentary Taxes. The 6 Geo, 
 IL c. 13. which has been already refered to, 
 lays heavy Duties on all foreign Rum, Sugar, 
 imd Melaffes, imported into the Britijh Plan- 
 tations • the Amount of the Impofitions has 
 been complained of; the Policy of the Laws 
 has been objeded to -, but the Right of making 
 
 fucU 
 
I 
 
 ( >05 ) 
 
 fuch a Law, has never been queftioned. Thefc 
 however, it may be laid, are Duties upon Im- 
 ports only, and there fome imaginary Line has 
 been fiippofed to be drawn -, but had it ever 
 cxifted, it was pafled long before, for by 25 
 Charles II. c. 7. enforced by 7 and 8 IVil. and 
 Mary^ c. 22. and by i Geo. I. c. 12. the Ex- 
 ports of the Weji Indian IQands, not the Mer- 
 chandize purchafed by the Inhabitants, nor the 
 Profits they might make by their Trade, but the 
 Property they had at the Time, the Produce of 
 their Lands, was taxed, by the Duties then im-» 
 pofed upon Sugar, Tobacco, Cotton, Indigo, 
 Ginger, Logwood, Fuftick, and Cocoa, ex- 
 ported from one BritiJIj Plantation to another. 
 
 It is in vain to call thefe only Regulations of 
 Trade ; the Trade of Britijh Subjetts may not 
 be regulated by fuch Means, without the Con- 
 currence of their Reprcfentatives. Duties laid 
 for thefc Purpofes, as well as for the Purpol'es 
 of Revenue, are ftill Levies of Money upon 
 the People. The Conftitution again knows no 
 Diftind:ion between Impoft Duties and internal 
 Taxation^; and if fome fpeculative Difference 
 ihould be attempted to be made, it certainly is 
 contradi(5led by Fact ; for an internal Tax alfo 
 was laid on the Colonies by the Eltablifhment 
 of a Poll Office there ; which, however it may 
 be re pre fen ted, v^ill, upon a Perufal of 9 /f«»(? 
 c. 10, appear to be elfentially a Tax, and that 
 of the mofl autlioritative Kind •, for it is enforced 
 by Provifions, more peculiarly prohibitory and 
 compulOve, than others are ufually ittended 
 with : The Conveyance of Letters thro* any 
 other Channel is forbidden, by wliicn Reftric- 
 
 tions, 
 
( io6 ) . 
 
 fJons, the Advantage which might be made by 
 public Carriers and others of this Branch of 
 their Biifinefs is taken away ; and the PafTage of 
 Ferries is declared to be tree for the Poil, the 
 Ferrymen being compellable immediately on 
 Demand to give their Labour without pay, and 
 the Proprietors being obliged to furniih the 
 Means of P^ilTage to the Foft without Rccom- 
 pence. Thefe Provifions are indeed very pro- 
 per, and even neceffaryj but certainly Money 
 IvVied by fuch Methods, the Effed of which 
 is. intended to be a Monopoly of the Carriage 
 of Lettei s to the OfHcers of this Revenue, and 
 by Means of which the People are forced to pay 
 the Rates impcied upon all theirCorrefpondencc, 
 is a public i ax to which they muft fubmir, and 
 not meerly a Price required of them for a pri- 
 vate Accommodation. The Ai5t treats this and 
 the Britijh PoRage upon exaftly the fame Foot- 
 ing, and expreny calls them both a Revenue. 
 The Preamble of it declares, thac the new Rates 
 are fixed in the Manner therein i'pecified with a 
 View to enable her Majefty in fome Meafure to car- 
 ry on andfmifh tUe War. The Sum of 700/. per 
 "Week out of all the Duties ari/ing from time to 
 time by virtue of this A^ is appropriated for that 
 Purpofe, and for other necefliary Occafions \ the 
 Surplus after other Dedu<ftions, was made part 
 of the civil Lift Revenues •, it continued to be 
 thus applied during the Reigns of George I. and 
 George II. and on his prelc-nt Majetly's AccelTjon 
 to the Throne,when the Civil Lift vvas put upon 
 a different Eftablilliment, the Poft Office Ke, 
 venues were carried with the others to the ag- 
 gregate Fu»df to tc applied to ths Uf:s^ to 'which 
 
 tkf 
 
 c 
 
 t] 
 
 ■"-' -i]ni,, 
 
' ( 107 ) 
 
 the /aid Fund is orJJiall be applicahJe. If all theie 
 Circumftances do not conftitiie a Tax» I do no,t 
 know what do: the Stamp Duties are not 
 marked with ftrongcr Charaflers, to entitle 
 them to that Denomination ; and with relpeft 
 to the Application of the Revenue, the Power 
 of the Parliament of Great Britain over the 
 Colonies was then held up much higher than it 
 has been upon the prefcnt Occafion. The Re- 
 venue arifing from the Poftnge in Amcmari is 
 blended with that of Efigland, is applied in Pare 
 to the carrying on of a continental War, and 
 other public Purpofes -, the Remainder of it to 
 the Support of the Civil Lift; and now the 
 whole of it to the Difcharge of die National 
 Debt by Means of the aggregate Fund -, all 
 thefe are Services that are either national or par- 
 ticular to Great Britain ; but the Stamp Duties 
 and the others that were laid laft Year, are ap- 
 propriated to fuch Services only as more parti- 
 cularly relate to the Colonies -, and furely if the 
 Right of the Britijh Parliament to impofe the 
 one be acknowledged ; that of laying on the 
 other cannot be difputed. The Poft-Office has 
 indeed been called a meer Convenience -, which 
 therefore the People always chearfully pay for. 
 After what has been faid, this Obfervation re- 
 quires very little Notice -, I will not call the Pro- 
 tection and Security of the Colonies, to which the 
 Duties in queftion arc applied, by fo low a Name 
 as a Convenience. 
 
 The Inftances that have been mentioned 
 prove, that the Right of the Parliament of 
 Great Britain to impofe Taxes of every Kind on 
 the Colonies, has been always admitted ; buc 
 
 were 
 
 P 
 
 ii 
 
lUji Jill. 11.11 .IMJIWff 
 
 Jii 
 
 11.. 
 
 C ic8 ) 
 
 were there no TrecedentR to fiipport the Claim, 
 it would ftill beiticonteftable, being founded on 
 the Principles of our ConUitutioii; for the Fadt 
 is, that the Inhabitants of the Colonies are re- 
 prefentcd in Parhament : tliey do not indeed 
 chule the Members of that Allembly, neither 
 are Nine Tenths of the People of Britc'n Elec- 
 tors ; for the Right of Eledlion is annexed to 
 certain Species of Property, to peculiar Fran- 
 chifes, and to Inhabitancy in fomc particular 
 Places •, but thefe Dcfcriptions comprehend only 
 a very fmall Part of the La^nd, the Property, 
 and the People of this Ifland : all Copyhold, all 
 Leafehold Eftates, under the Crown, under the 
 Church, or under private Perfons, tho* for 
 Terms ever fo long; all landed Property in 
 Jhort, that is not Freehold, and all monied Pro- 
 pei ty whatfoever are excluded : the Pofleflfors of 
 thefe have no Votes in the Eleflion of Members 
 of Parliament i Women and Perfons under Age 
 be their Property ever fo large, and all of it 
 Freehold, have none. The Merchants of Lon- 
 don^ a numerous and refpedlable Body of Men, 
 whofe Opulence exceeds all that America could 
 colledl ; the Proprietors of that vaft Accumula- 
 tion of Wealth, the public Funds i the Inhabi- 
 tants of Leeds^ of Halifax^ of Birmingham^ and 
 of Manchefler, Towns that are each of them 
 larger than the Largeft in the Plantations ; 
 many of lefs Note that are yet incorporated; and 
 that great Corporation the Eaji India Company, 
 whofe Rights over the Countries they pofTefs, 
 fall little Ihort of Sovereignty, and whofe Trade 
 and whofe Fleets are fufHcient to corftiture 
 thciii a maritime Power, arc all in the fame 
 
 Cir- 
 
( 109 ) 
 
 Circumftances-, none of tliem chufe their Repre- 
 fentatives -, and yet are they not reprelentcd in 
 Parliament ? Is their vaft Property iubjedl to 
 Taxes without their Confent ? Are rhfy all ar- 
 bitrarily bound by Laws to which they have 
 not agreed ? The Colonics are in exactly the. 
 fame Situation : All BritifJi Subjects are really 
 in the fame ; none are aftually, all are virtually 
 reprefented in Parliament i for every Member 
 of Parliament fits in the Houfe, not as Repre- 
 fentative of his own Conftituents, but as one of 
 that auguft Afiembly by which all the Commons 
 of Great Britain are reprefented. Their Rights 
 and their Interefts, however his own Borough 
 may be affefted by general Difpofitions, ought 
 to be the great Objedls of his Attention, and 
 the only Rules for his Condud; and to facrificc 
 thefe to a partial Advantage in favour of the 
 Place where he v/as chofen, would be a Depar- 
 ture from his Duty ; if it were otherwife, Old 
 Sarum would enjoy Privileges eflcntial to Liber- 
 ty, which are denied to Birmingham and to Man' 
 chejier •, but as it is, they and the Colonies and 
 all Britijh Subjects whatever, have an equal 
 Share in the general Reprefentatlon of the Com- 
 mons of Great Britain^ and are bound by the 
 Coflfent of the Majority of that Houfe, whether 
 their own particular Reprefentatives conlented to 
 or oppofed the Meafures there taken, or whether 
 they had or had not particular Repref^ntaiives 
 :L-re, 
 
 The Inhabitants of the Colonies however have 
 by fome been fuppofed to be excepted, becaufe 
 they are reprefented in their rcfpective Aff^m- 
 
 blies. So arc the Citizens of Lo}tdon in their 
 ...;,.- - . . \j ^ ,.. . Corn- 
 
 fame 
 Cir- 
 
h 
 
 ( "o ) 
 
 Common Council ; and yet fo fiir from exclud- 
 ing them from the national Reprcfentaton, it 
 does not impeach their Right to chufe Members 
 of Parliament : it is true, that the Powers vefted 
 in the Common Council of London, are not 
 equal to thofe which the Aflemblies in the Plan- 
 tations enjoy -, but dill they are legiflative Powers^ 
 to be exercifed within their Diltrift, and over 
 their Citizens ; jet not exciufively of the general 
 Superintendance of the great Council of the 
 Nation : The Subjedls of a By-law and of an 
 A(5t of Parliament may poflibly be the fame ; 
 yet it never was imagined that the Privileges of 
 London were incompatible with the Authority 
 of Parliament ; and indeed what Contradiftion, 
 what Abfurdity, does a double Reprefentation 
 imply ? What difficulty is there in allowing 
 both, tho' both Ihould even be veiled with equal 
 legiflative Powers, if the one is to be exercifed 
 for local, and the other for general Purpofes^ ? 
 and where is the Neceffity that the Subordinate 
 Power muft derogate from the fuperior Authori- 
 ty ? It would be a fmgular Objeclion to a Man's 
 Vote for a Member of Parliament, that being 
 reprefented in a provincial, he cannot be repre- 
 fcnted in a national AfTembly ; and if this is not 
 fufRcient Ground for an Objedion, neither is it 
 for an Exemption, or for any Pretence of an 
 Exclufion. 
 
 The Charter and the proprietary Governments 
 in America, are in this Refpe(5t, on the fame Foot- 
 ing with the Reft. The comprehending them 
 alfo, both in a provincial and national Reprefen- 
 tation, is not neceflarily attended with any Incon- 
 fiftency, and nothing contained in their Grants 
 
 can 
 
mmttmimmmm^m^^^^^ 
 
 )n- 
 
 its 
 
 )t- 
 
 tn- 
 
 in- 
 
 Its 
 
 m 
 
 ( 'in ) , 
 
 can eftablifh one 5 for all who took thole Grants 
 were Britijb Subjefls, inhabiting i?r//^/2 Do- 
 minions, and V. '\o at the Time of taking, were 
 indifputably under the Authority of Parliament; 
 no other Power can abridge that Authority, or 
 difpenfe with the Obedience that is due to it : 
 thofe therefore, to whom the Charters were ori- 
 ginally given, could have no Exemption granted 
 to them : and what the Fathers never received, 
 the Children cannot claim as an Inheritance-, 
 nor was it ever in Idea that they rtiouki ; even 
 the Charters thcmrjlves, fo far from allowing 
 guard againft the Suppofition. 
 
 And after all, does any Friend to the Colo- 
 nies defire the lijifnnprion ? he cannot, if he 
 will reflc<^ but a Moment on the Confequences. 
 We value the Right of being leprcfenred in the 
 national Legiflature as the deared Privilege we 
 enjoy; hOwjuftly woukl the Colonies complain, 
 il they alone weie deprived of it ? They ac- 
 knowledge Depend.incc upon their Mother 
 Country ; but that Dependance wouki be Slavery 
 not Connexion, if they bore no Part in the 
 Government of the whole : they would then 
 indeed be in a worfe Situation than the Inhabi- 
 tants of BrJiahj for thtflc are all of them vir- 
 tually, tho' tew of them are atliually reprefented 
 in the Hc/tije of Commons ; if tde Colonies were 
 not, they could not exped: that their Interells 
 and their Privileges would be any otherwife con- 
 lidered there, than as fublervient to thofc of 
 Great Britain-, for to deny the Authority of a. 
 Legiflature, is to furrender all Claims to a Share 
 in its Councils ; and if this were the Tenor of 
 their Charters, a Grant more infidious and more 
 
 replete 
 
 ■1 
 
 ■I 
 
 • \ 
 
replete with Mifchief, could not have been In- 
 vented : a permanent Title to a Share in national 
 Councils, would be exchanged for a precarious 
 Reprefentation in a provincial Aflembly -, and a 
 Forfeiture of their Rights would be couched 
 under the Appearance oi Privileges ; they would 
 be reduced irom Equality to Subordination, 
 and be at the fame Time deprived of the Bene- 
 fits, and liable to the Ii onveniences, both of 
 Independency and of Connedlion. Happily for 
 them, this is not their Condition. They are on 
 the contrary a Part, and an important Part of 
 the Commons of Great Britain : they are repre- 
 fented in Parliament, in the fame Manner as 
 thofe Inhabitants of Britam are, who have not 
 Voices in Eledions ; and they enjoy, with the 
 Reft of their Fellow-fubjeifls, the ineftimable 
 Privilege of not being bound by any Laws, or 
 fubjeft to any Taxes, to which the Majority of 
 the P eprefentatives of the Commons have not 
 confented. 
 
 If there really were any Inconfiftency between 
 a national and a provincial Legiflature, the 
 Confequence would be the Abolition of the lat- 
 ter i for the Advantages that attend it are pure- 
 ly local : the Diftridt it is confined to might 
 be governed without it, by means of the natio- 
 nal Reprefentatives ; and it is unequal to great 
 general Operations; whereas the other is abfo- 
 Jutely neceffary for the Benefit and Prefcrvation 
 of the whole : But fo far are they from being 
 incompatible, that they will be leldom found 
 to interfere with one another : Tiie Parliament 
 will not often have occafion to excrcife its 
 Fower over the Colonies, except for thofe Pur- 
 
 pofes 
 
 mmatttm 
 
n- 
 lal 
 
 (US 
 
 a 
 
 ?d 
 
 lid 
 
 n. 
 e- 
 bf 
 
 |br 
 n 
 
 bf 
 e- 
 as 
 ot ■ 
 le 
 ]c 
 or 
 f 
 
 ' \ 
 
 ^. I ■ • i 
 
 -. t »i3 ) 
 
 pofes, which the Aflemblles cannot provide 
 for. A general Tax is of this Kind ; the Ne- 
 cefTity for ic, the Extent, the Application of it, 
 are Matters which Councils limited in theirViews 
 and in th'rir Operatior.s cannot properly judge 
 of i and when therefore the nationi^l Council 
 determine thefe Particulars, it does not encroach, 
 on the other, it only exercifes a Power which 
 that other does not pretend to, never claimed, 
 or wiiTicd, nor can ever be vefted with : The 
 latter remains in exaftly the fame State as it 
 was before, providing for the fame Services, by 
 the fame Means, and on the fame Sub] efts ; 
 but confcious of its own Inability to anfwer 
 greater Purpofes than thofe for which it was in- 
 ftitutcd, it leaves the care of more general Con- 
 cerns to that higher Legiflature, in whofe Pro- 
 vince alone the Diredtion of them always was, 
 is, and will be. The Exertion of that Autho- 
 rity which belongs to its univerfal Superinten- 
 dance, neither lowers the Dignity, nor depreci- 
 ates the Ufefulnefs of more limited Powers : 
 They retain all that they ever had, and are really 
 incapable of more. 
 
 The Concurrence therefore of the provincial 
 Reprefentatives cannot be necefl^ry in great 
 public Meafures to which none but the national 
 Keprefentatives are equal : The Parliament of 
 Great Bricain not only may but muft tax the 
 Colonies, when the public Occafions reqi ire a 
 Revenue there: The prefent Circumftanos of 
 the Nation require one now i and a Stamp Ad, 
 of which we have had fo long an Experience 
 in this, and which is not unknown in that 
 Country, fecms an tligible Mode of Taxation. 
 
 From 
 
 
 ■./ 
 
■HBipi 
 
 fTO(^r,Air.;l\|U"f^Cpnficleradons, a from many 
 
 need not b^ fiiegcfte^,' if mii^i:' ^n^^ear 'proper ;^d 
 c.bargi certaijt Si^mp Villus IK the .MaHiati;)-}ri t6 
 ie appliad towards defrafin^ iH(pec{jfan Eic/^cnt-fi 
 tf defendifi^^ prokSlirig, and 'fscurhi^ 'th.i ^rHiJh 
 yolonies and Planiations'in Ame^^iu^ ■ T\\\^'yk>\i 
 of the Hbufe of Commons cidfed the MeafuVIs 
 tfkcn ^ft Year p(i the ^3u!:)ie£l: of the Cblonit-s'i 
 ^hry appear to have been foil mkd upoa true 
 I-rinciples of Policy, of Corillilet"C<\ and of t*H 
 ^ancc,; jp;be wife with rel])e(5f to the Motlt^i 
 Country ) juft and even bciieftttal . tb tfie^Iati- 
 
 prove, the Ati vantages we poltefs, confirm the 
 tikirings we enjoy, anc} proniot^ the publi^i 
 
 
 . .;.v ?i 
 
 
 
 . . Ilia ^-A L.I f>?;fJ.Bv;;d^%r /(^.iviv? Ip 
 r ' < i ff^OMiJair 3ofi^ li^^jrlv? b:isi ^kfHi ^i 
 
 «ajt. 
 
 v> 
 
 ' r* . ';.' '. 
 
 /X: 
 

 1 
 
 t 
 ■I 
 
 i 
 
 i\ 
 
 i 
 
 
 .-■■i 
 
■Ktl