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J I2X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 r ., K mmmmi *r HE RIGHTS K O F T H E Britijh Colonies Afferted and proved. ^"m^^ By JAMES OTIS, £/^> Hac omnis reg'io ^ celft phga pinea month 4Jedat amicities Teucrorutn : ts feeder it aquai Dicamus leges^ fociofque in regna vocemus. Confidanty ft tmtus amor, i^ moenia condanU ViRG* ' - ' ■ - * •'-•-■"4? i • BOSTON, NEW-E NGLAND, Printed : London Reprinted, for J. Almon, oppofite Bur-* lington-Houfe^ Piccadilly^ [Price Two ShiUings.] ■l>-5 • * I N T R O D U C T i O N. Of the Origin of Government, \ I < ' • I • •■ I TJMIE origia ot government has in all ageJ ■. » no lefs perplexed the heads of lawyers' and politicians, than the origin of evilh2iS em- . barrafled divines and philofophers : and 'tis probable the world may receive a fatisfadlory folution on both thofe points of enquiry at the fame iimt* The various opinions on the origin of ffo- vernment have been reduced to four, i. That dominion is founded m Grace, 2. On force or mcev power, 3. On compact. 4. On pro- perty. " ' The firft of thefe opinions is fo abfurd, and^ the world has paid fo very dear for embracing it, efpecially under the adminiftration of the, Roman pontiff's, . that mankind fecm at this day ' , to be in a grea,t meafure cured of their mad- nefs in this particular j and the notion is piret-" ty generally explo(Jed, and hifled off the' ' ^age. ^^ To thofe who lay the foundation of govern* ment m force and meer brutal power ^ itis ob- [ jedled j that, their fyftem deftroys all diftinc- tion between right and wrong ', that it over- turns all morality, and leaves it to every man B 2 to i» ' »/r ,iyjl:erri i^'cfiVrtjedcftl an'd'ttnfi^p'pbrte J may De agam '^';Wher^ an^ pa(S"fo'r ihtfoilucing government .., — . ciety, or for creating a lociety, made. ?/ Wba^^^ knd i5arties ird fdch compai^' r where Was the orieinal com- , \ -ine government mto anv lo- ., were prefent Who a'ded for infants ..^lid j women, or vyho / appointed guardians for them? Ha4 ' thcie' guardians power "to bind both infants and Wo- men during life^ ^nd their poft^ritj^ . aft'ej;? ^ them? Is it in nature of r^afon that a gpardian ihould by his own adl perpetuate his- power ^1 over his Ward,' arid biila'hiiii drijd' his pofterity V m chains r Is not every man porn as free by: nature as his father ? ffas he not tTic fkrfie ria-', tural right to thirilc and ' p£t' and coiitra^l for him'feTf ? Is it pouibie for a riian to have a na- tural right to make a flave oi himfelf or of his poflierity ? Can a'father fiiperfede the laws of nature r vVhat man is or eyer was born free, if every man is riot ? What wijl tiheVe be to ' J I.} I difirnsuidi the ne'xt of gene{ation ot men their forefathers, that they fhduld from have the •■t the ftiwe ijlght to ma^c original cbipiipafJis. as tt^eir ^nq^ftqrs had? If every man ha|9 fuch, right, ipay thc;rc, not be as.ijiany origin^ comi-,, paft§ s^s tl^cr^e aye men ar>4 wQ^rxcp bgrp pp .to ": be borp ? Are rjpt wom^n born as\fre^ as ; men ? WoUjWitndtbeinfanious to^fet that , the latiles, ^re all flave^, by nature ? Ifey^ryj tnan an^ W9man>boni pr to be bprnl^aSi^ -and ;. wQl haye^ ^.Tig^ to be capful tod, ap^jii^jft: \ accrede to thp original cpmp^^ betej^.'tihtfy, can r; w^ih py kind of j lift ice b^ Jaic} to be t^ojipcl. /r by it^ wjll not the compadt be ever, forming, and n^vcr fioifljed, ever \ ifnalu^e that has been palmed i,ipQO him by the reft of the high-contradling pair- ties ? Will npt natural equity in feveral fpecial cafes refcind the original compad:s of great men, as effectually as thofe of little men are rendered null and void in the ordinary courfe of a court of chancery ?" There ^re other queftions which have been ftarted, and a refolution of them demanded, which t» f > ,11 if. i-:- "H- m'-'' m m m 1 I which may perhaps Be deemed, indecent .by, thofe who hold the prerogatives of an earthly monafch, and even the power of a plantation , government, fo facred as to think it Iittls lefs than blafphemy to enquire into tl^eir , origf n and foundation:' while the government pf the fupreme fUfefot the univerfe,i's every day dif-, cuffed with Iel*s ceremony and decency than the admiriiftrat^bn of a petty German pripce. I hope the reader will confider that J am at prefent only mentioning fuch queftions zi have been put by high-flyers and others in churcli and ftate, who woiild exclude all cornpaft be- tween a fbyereign artA his people, withdut of- fering my own fentiments upon them ; this however I prefumc I may be allowed hereaf- ter to do without offence. Thofe who wai;it a fuli atiAver td them may conlult Mr. Locke's difcoWrfes on governnierit, M. t)e Vatters law of nature and nations, and their own con-, fcienccs. "What ftate were Great -Britain, Ireland, and the Plantations left in by the abdication of Jdmi^ II ? Was it a ftate of nature or of ci- vil goveriiment ? If a ftate of civil govern- ment, 'Where were the fupreme legiflatiye and executive powers from the abdication to the election of William and Mary? Could the. Lords and Commons be called a compleat parliaihent or fupreme power without a King to head them ? 'Did any law of the land or any original compact previous to the abdication provide, that on fuch an event, the fupreme *' power ■1 h ^' I (>) - - •power fliOjUld devolve on the two houfes? Were not both hoyfcs fp maniftftly puzzled w^h the riovelty apd ftrangenefa of the event, and fo far from finding any a^ of parU«ti*iciii, book-cafe, or pr^gqedcnt to help them, that they difputed in folcmn conference by what name to call the adtion, a^d at lail gave it one» as new in our language and in that of parlia- ment as the thing itfelf was in fad* ? " If on this memorable and very happy even* the three kingdoms and the dominions fell back into a flate of nature, it will be afked, " Whether every man and woman were not then equal ? If fo, had not every one of them a natural and equitable right to be confulted in the choice of a new king, qr in the forma- tion of a new original compaft or governmcpt, iif any new form *had been made f Might not the nation at that time have rightfully changed the monarchy into a repi^blic or any form, that might feem befl; ? Could any change from a ftate of nature take place without univerfal.con- fent, or at leaft without the confem of the majority of the individuals ? Upon the prin- ciples of the original compadl as commonly ex- * On King Jan»es*s leaving the kingdom and abdicating the government, the lords would have the word defertion made ufe ofv but the commons thought it was not comprehenfive enough, for that the King might tnen have liberty of returning. The Scots rightly called it a forfeiture of the crown, and this in plain Engliih is the fenfe of the term abdication 3t.$ by the con- vention and every parliament flnce applied. See the hiltory and debates of the convention, and theai^s then made. W |v I I ( ^ ) explained and underdood^ could a few hun- dred 'rheny who before the diflblution of the -govcrnrficht had beeh called, ind in fad were, lords, knights, and |gentlemen, have lawfully made that glorious delivered and defender ^Ifi^ IWi rightful king ?" Such an one he cer- itainly "ivas, and fuch have been all his illu- ^rious fucceffoi^s to the prelcnt happy times; wtten^ we have* the joy to fee the fceptre fwayed ift jviftice> wifdom and mercy, by our lawfulx^^qveVojgn George the Third j a prince ^hogilories inbeing a Briton born, and whom ^ina^ God Itlng pfeferve and profprr. t fi«^:ifvop6n^he abdicatior^ all were reduced to avf^kte of nature, had not apple-women and brahge-tgirlfr as good a tight to give their ref- pe(ftive fuftragf 3 for a new king as the philo- fophefi couttie^ pc*5t niaitre, and politician ? Weiie'riifefe and tert nftlllions of others fuch ^^ mbrC tohftilted on'that oceafion, than the multitude iioW are inithe adjuftmcnt of that real modern farce, an eledlion of a king of the Romans 5 which ferves as a contrail to the grandeur of the antient republics, and fhews the littlertefs of the modetn Gcrmari and Ibmc other Gothic con'ftijtutions in their prefent de- generate ftatc ? "In the eledlion of IF, IIL were the votes of Ireland and the Plantationsever called for or once thought of till the affair was fettled ? Did the lords and commons who happened to, be then in and about Weflminfter reprefent,. ^nd a€t, for the individuals, not only of the threQ, •nm-WM^"' \ - (9) three kingdoms, but for all the free'-horn and as yet unconquered poff'effbrs and proprietors of their own money -pure hafed,, blooa-purchafed plantations, which, till lately, hai'd been de- fended with little or no ajjijlance from Greats Britain ? Were not thofe who did not vote in or for the new model at liberty upon the prin- ciples of the compadt to remain in what fome '^■^- call the delegable ftate of nature, to which by the hypothefis they were reduced, or to join themfelves to any other ftate, whofe fo- lemn league and covenant they could fub- fcribc ? Is it not a firfl: principle of the origi- nal compad, that all who are bound ihould bind themfelves f Will not common fenfe with- out much learning or ftudy didtate obvious anfwcrs to all the above queilions ?— pnd, fay the oppofers of the original compad: i:nd of the natural equality and liberty of mankind, will not thofe anfwers infallibly (hew that the doiStrine is a piece of metaphyjical jargon and Jyjlematical not\itn{t ?" Perhaps not. With regard to the fourth opinion, that do-- minion is founded in property, what is it but playing with words ? Dominion in one fenfe of the term is fynonimous with property, fo one cannot be called the foundation of the other, but as one name may appear to be the foundation 01 caufe of another. Property cannot be the foundation of do- minion as fynonimous with government ; for on the fuppofition that property has a precari- C ous . i ( 16 ) ous exigence antecedent to government, and though it is alfo admitted that the fecurity df property is one end of government, but that of little eftimation even in the view of a mifer when life and liberty of locomotion and fur- ther accumulation are placed in competition, it muft be a very abfurd way of fpeaking to af- fert that one end of government is the foun- dation of government. If the ends of go- vernment are to be confidered as its founda- tion, it cannot with truth or propriety be faid that government is founded on any one of thofe ends J and therefore government is not foimd- ed on property or its fecurity alone, but at leaft on fomething elfe in conjundlion. It is how- ever true in fadl and experience, as the greats the incomparable Harrington has moft abun- dantly demonftrated in his Oceana, and other divine writings, that Empire follows the ba- lance of property : it is alio certain that pro- perty in fadl generally confers power, though the polTeflbr of it may not have much more wit than a mole or a mufqua(h : and this is too often the caufe, that riches are fought af- ter, without the leaft concern about the right application of them. But is the fault in the riches, or the general law of nature, or 'ha unworthy polTeiror ? It will never follow from all this, that government is rightfully found** ed on property, alone. What (hall we fay then ? Is not government founded on grace ^ No. Nor on fo?'ce ? No. Nor on compadl f Nor property ? Not altogether on either. Has / A /' ( 'O Has it any folid foundation ? any chief corner ftone, but what accident, chance or confiifion may lay one moment and deftroy the nexr ? I think it has an everlafting foundation in the unchangeable wiil of God, the author of na- ture, whofe laws never vary. The fame om- nifcient, omnipotent, infinitely good and gra- cious Creator of the univerfe, who has been pleafed to make it nccelTary that what we call matter fhould gravitate, for the celeftial bo- dies to roll round their axes, dance their or- bits and perform their various revolutions in that beautiful order and concert, which we all admire, has made it equally neceflary that from /Idam and Eve to thefe degenerate days, the different fexes (houjd fweetly attract each other, form focieties of fmgk families, of which larger bodies and communities are as naturally, mechanically, and neceffarily com- bined, as the dew of Heaven and the foft dif- tilling rain is collected by the all-enlivening heat of the lim. Government is therefore moft evidently founded on the neceffities of our na~ ture. It is by no means an arbitrary thing, depending merely on compact or human will ion its exiftence. We come into the world forlorn and help- lefs i and if left alone and to ourfelves at any one period of our lives, we (hould foon die in want, defpair or deftradlion. Sc kind is that hand, though little known or regarded, which feeds the rich and the poor, tho blind and the naked ; and provides for the fafety of infants C 2 by ;,•' lil ( lO by the principle of parental love, and for that of men by Government ! We have a King, who neither flumbers nor lleeps, but eternal- ly watches for our good j whofe rain falls on the juft and on the unjuft : yet while they live, move, and have their being in him, and cannot account for either, or for any thing elfe, fo flupid and wicked arc feme men, as to deny his exiftcnce, blafpheme his moft evi- Jent government, and difgrace their nature. Let no Man think 1 am about to commence advocate for defpotifm^ becaule I affirm that government is founded on the necefHty of our natures ; and that an original fupreme $ove*- reign,abfolute, and uncontroulable, earthly ^ovf^ er mujt exift in and prefide over every Ibciety; from whofe final decifions there can be no ap- peal but directly to Heaven. It is therefore origifiaily and ultimately in the people. I fay this lupreme abfolute power is originally and ultimately in the people ; and they never did in ia.&.fre€lyy nor can they rightfully make an abfolute, unlimited renunciation of this di- vine fight*. It is ever in the nature of the thing given in truft, and on a condition, the performance of which no mortal can difpcnce with ; namely, that the perfon or pcrfons on whom * 'Ihe power of God Almighty is the only powtfr that can properly and ftriftly be called fupreme and abfolute. In the order of nature innmcdiately under him, comes the power of a fimplc democracy, or the power of the whole over the whole, Subkqiien: to laoth thefe, are all other.Dolitical powers, from thai of the French Monar^ue, to a petty conftable. ( 13 ) whom the fovereignty is confered by the peo- ple, fhall incejjantly confult their good. Ty- ranny of all kinds is to be abhored, whether it be in the hands of one, or of the few, or of the many. — And though '• in the laft age a generation of men fprung up that would flatter Princes with an opinion that they have a divine right to abfolute power ;" yet ** fla- very is fo vile and miferable an eftate of man, and fo diredtly oppofite to the generous tem- per and courage of our nation, that it is hard to be conceived that an EngliJ};)man, much lefs a gentleman^ (hould plead for it * : " Efpecial- ly at a time when the fineft writers of the moft polite nations on the continent of Europe, are enraptured with the beauties of the civil conftitution of Great-Britain j and envy her, no lefs for the freedom of her fons, than for her immenfe wealth and military glory* But let the origin of government be placed where it may, the e?id of it is manifeftly the good of the whole. Salus populi fiiprema lex ejlo, is of the law of nature, and part of that grand charter given the human race (though too many of them are afraid to afTert it) by the only monarch in the univerfe, who has a clear and indifputable right to abfolute power ; becaufe he is the only One who is omnifcient as well as omnipotent. It is evidendy contrary to the firft principles of reafon, that fupreme unlimited power fhould be in the hands oione man. It is the greateft <* idolatry * Mr, Locke. ( M- ) ** idolatry^ begotten by Jlatferyt on the body cA pride y* that could induce one to think that 2l Jingle mortal (hould be able to hold fo great a power, if ever fo well inclined. Hence the origin of deifying princes : it was from the trick of gulling the vulgar into a belief that their tyrants were omnifcient ; and that it was therefore right, thit they fhould be co. ^dered as omnipotent. Hence the Diimajorum & mi- norum gentium j the great, the monarchical, the little, Provincial fubordinate and fubaltern gods, demi-gods, and femidemi-gods, ancient and modern. Thus deities of all kinds were multiplied and increafed in abundance ; for every devil incarnate, who could enflave a people, acquired a title to divinity ; and thus the ** rabble of the ikies" was made up of lo- cufts and caterpillars ; lions, tygers, and har-r pies J and other devourers tranflated from plaguing the eaith * ! - ' The end of government being the good of mankind, points out ics great duties : it is a- bove all things to provide for the fecurity, the quiet, and happy enjoyment of life, liberty, and property. There is no one adl which a government can have a right to make, that does not tend to the advancement of th* fecu- rity, tranquility and profperity of the people. If life, liberty and property could be enjoyed in * Kingcraft and Prieflicraft have f-'ll out fo o'"ten, that it is a wonder this grand and ancient alliance is not broken off for ever. Happy for mankind will it be, when fijch a fepaiation fliall take place. ( >5) in as great perfecSlion in folitude, as infociety^ there would be no need o/ government. But the experience of ages has proved ihat fuch is the nature of man, a v^^eak, imperfedl being; that the valuable ends of life carrot be ob- tained, without the union and ailiftaace of many. Hence it is clear that men cannot live apart or independent of each other i in foli- tude men would perifti ; and yet they cannot live together without contefts. Thefe con- tefts require fome arbitrator to determine them* The neceflity of a common, indiffe ent and impartial judge, makes all men feek one ; though few find him in the fovereign power ^ of their refpedlive ftates or any where elfe in fubordination to it. Government is founded Immediately on the lieceflities of human natare, and ultimately on the will of God, the author of nature j who has net left it to men in general to chufe, whether they will be members of fociety or not, but at the hazard of their fenfes if not of their lives. Yet it is left to every man as he comes of age to chufe what fociety he will continue to belong to. Nay, if one has i mind to turn hermit , and after he has been born, nurfed, and brought up in the arms of f'^ciety, and acquired the habits and pairions of focial life, is willing to run the rifque of ftarving alone, which is generally moil una^ voidable in a ftate of hermitage, who fhall hinder him ? I know of no human law, founded on the law of nature y to reltrain inin tioin ■py m^ &9 • iTit I I III I ( i6 ) from feparating himfclf from all the fpecies, if he can find it in his heart to leave them i unlefs it (hould be faid, it is againft the great law o{ felf-frefervation: But of this every man will think himfelf ^/j own judge > The few hermits and Mifanthropes that ever cxifted, (hew that thofe ftates are unna- tural. If we were to take out from them, thofe who have made great worldly gain of their godly hermitage, and thofe who have been under the madnefs of enthufiafm^ or dtf- appointed hopes in their ambitious projects, for the detriment of mankind, perhaps there might not be left ten from Mam to this day. The form of government is by nature and by right fo far left to the individuals of each fociety, that they may alter it from a fimplc democracy, or government of all over all, to any other form they pleafe. Such alteration may and ought to be made by exprefs compadl J But how feldom this right has been afferted, hiftory will abundantly fliew. For once that it has been fairly fettled by compadl j frauds force or accident have determined it an hun- dred times. As the people have gained upcn tyrants, thefe have been obliged to relax, only till a fairer opportunity has put it in their power to encroach again. But if every prince fince Nijnrod had been a tyrant, it would not prove a right to ty- ranize. There can he no prefcription old enough to fuperfcde the law of nature, and the grant of God Almighty -, who has given to (17) to all men a natural right to htfree^ ind they have it ordinarily in their power to make themfclvcs fo, if they pleafe. Government having been proved to be ne- CefTary by the law of nature, it makes no dif- ference in the thing to call it from a certain period, civiL This term can only relate to form, to additions to, or deviations from, the fubllance of government : This being found- ed in nature, the fnperftrud:ures and the whole adminiftration (hould be conformed to the law of univerfal reafon. A fupreme le- giflative and a fupreme execbtive power, muft be ^\2LCt{\fomewkere in every commonwealth : Where there is no other pofitive provilion or compadt to the contrary, thofe powers remain in the whole body of the people. It is alfo evi- dent there can be but one bed way of depo- fning thofe powers ; but what that way is, mankind have been difputing in peace and in war more than live ihoufand years. If we could fuppofe the individuals of a community met to deliberate, whether it were bcft to keep thofe powers in their own hands, or dif- pofe of them in trtift, the following queftions would occur Whether thofe two great powers of Legijlatfon and Execution fliould re- main united ? If (o, whether in the hands of the many, or jointly or feverally in the hands of a few, or jointly in fume one individual ? If both thofe powers are retained in the hands of the many, where nature feems to have D placed .li- ft^ ■ i ( i8 ) placed them originally, the government is a Simple democracy, or a government of all over all. This can he adminiftred, only hy efta- blidiing it as a firft principle, that the votes of the majority fliall he taken as the voice of the whole. If thofe powers are lodged in the hands of a few, "^he government is Arijiocracy or Oligarchy^, i ere too the firft principles of a pradticahle adminiflration is, that the ma- jority rules the whole. If thofe great powers are both lodged in the hands of one man, the government is a Jimple Monarchy, commonly, though falily called abjoiute, if by that term is meant a right to do as one pleafes. — Sic *volo, Jic juheo, fict fro ratione ^voluntas, be- longs not of right to any moital man. The fame law of nature and of reafon is equally obligatory on a democracy, an arifto^ cracy, and a monarchy : Whenever the admi- jiiftrators, in any of thofe forms, deviate from truth, jullice and equity, they verge towards tyranny, and are to be oppofed ; and if they prove incorrigible, they will be depofed by the people, if the people are not rendered too abjeCl. Depoiing the adminidrators of z^m- pk democracy may found oddly, but it is done every day, and in almoft every vote. A, B, and C for example, make a democracy ; to day A and B are for fo vile a meafure as a fland- * For the fake of the unlettered reader it is noted, that Monarchy means the power of one preat man; Ariltocracy and Oligarchy that of a few ; and Democracy that of all Kncn. ( '9 ) {landing army j to morrow B and C vote it out. This IS as really depofing the former adminiftrators, as fctting up and making a new king is depofing the old one. Democracy in the one cafe, and monarchy in the otl)er, flill remain ; all that is done is to change the adminiflration. The firft principle and great end of govern- ment being to provide for the beft good of all the people, this can be done only by a fu- preme legiflative and executive ultimately in the people, or whole community, where God has placed it ; but the inconveniencies, not to fay impoffibility, attending the confulta- tions and operations of a large body of people, have made it neceffary to transfer the power of the whole to a ftiv : This neccflity gave rife to deputation, proxy or a right of repre- fentation. A Power of legiflation, without a power of execution in the fame or other hands, would be futile and vain : On the other hand, a power of execution, fupreme or fubordinate, without an independent legiflature, would be perfed: defpotifm. The diflicnliies attending; an univerfal con- grefs, efpecially when fociety became large, have brought men to confcnt to a delegation- of the power of all ; The weak and the wick- ed have too often been tound in the fame in- terert ; and in moll nations have not only brought thefe powers joint/y into the hands of one, or feme tew, of dieir number ', but I" ' f .. 1 fr m\ lit: D 2 made t 1% ( 20 ) made them hereditary, in the families of defr potic nobles and princes. The wifer and more virtuous flates, hav^ always provided that the [eprefentation of the people fliould be numerous. Nothing but life and liberty are naturally hercditable : This has never been conlidered by thofe, who have tamely given up both into the hyinds of a ty^ runnical Oligarcliy or defpotic Monarchy. Tile analogy between the natural, or ma- terial, as it is called, and the moral world, is very obvious ; God himftlf appears to us at fome times to caufe the intervention or com- hiration of a number of fmiple principles, thcugh never when one will aidwer die, end ; gravication and attraction have place in the revolution of the planets, becaulc the one would fix them to a centre, and the other would carry them off indefinitely ; fo in tJie moral world, the firil iimple principle is equa^ lity and the power of the whole. This will anfwer in fmall numbers ; fo will a tolerably virtuous Oligarchy or a Monarchy, But when the lociety grows in bulk, none of them will anfwer -wtWjing/y, and none worfe than ab- folute monarchy. It becomes necefiiiry there- fore as numbers increafe, to have tliole fcveral powers properly combined -, fo as from the whole to produce that harmony of govern' ment fo often talked of and wifhed lor, but too feldom found in ancient or modern Itates, The grand political problem in all ages has j^eeu to invent the belt combination or diilrir hutijq ( 20 bution of the fupreme powers of legiftation and execution. Thofe ftates have ever mada the greatcft figure, and have been mod: dura- rable, in which thofe powers have not only been feparated from each other, but placed each in more hands than one, or a few. Tbd Romans are the moft fliining example; but they never had a balance between the fenatc and the people ; and the want of this, is ge- nerally agreed by the few who know any thing of the matter, to have been the canfe of their fall. The Bfitifi tonftitution in theory and in the prefent adminiftration of it, in ge- neral comes neareft the idea of perfe6iion, of any that has been reduced to pra6lice j 'and if the principles of it are adhered to, it will, according to the infallible predidiion of Har- rington, always keep the Britons uppemioft in Europe, 'till their only rival nation fliall either embrace that perfe(fl model of a com- monwealth given us by that author, or come as near it as Great- Britain is. Then indeed, and not till then, will that rival and our na-r tion either be eternal confederates, or contend in greater earneft than they have ever yet d jnc, till pne of them (hall fink under the power of the other, and rife no more. Great-Britain has at prefent, mod evidentr ly the advantage, and fuch opportunities of honcfi: wealth and grandeur, as perhaps no ftiUt: ever had before, at leaft not fince tho days ot 'Julius Co'far, the dcftroyer of the Koman glory and grandeur, at a time wheri but u.\j*^mi ( 32 ) but for him and his adherents both might have been rendered immortal. We have faid that the form and mode of government is to be fettled by compact as it was rightfury done by the convention after ihc abdication ot "James II. ana aflentcd to by the fifll reprcfcntativc of (he nadon chofen afterwards, and by every parliament, and by ahnoft every man ever lince, but the bigots to the iiidcfcafible power of tyrants civil and ec- cleiiaftic. There was neither time for, nor occaiion to call the whole people together : if they had not liked the proceedings it was in thfir power to controul them ; as it would be ihould the fnpreme legillative or executive powers ever again attempc to enflave them. The people will bear a great deal, before they will even murmur againrt their rulers ; but when once they are thoroughly roufed, and in carneft, againft thofe who would be glad to en- flave them, their power is irrefijlihle *. At the abdication of King James, every ftep was taken that m-tural jiflice and equity could require j and all was done that was pof- fible, at lead in the wretched ftacc in which he left the nation. Thofe very noble and worthy patriots, tbe lords fpi ritual and tem- poral of that d iy» and the principal perfons of the comm'-)ns, advifed the prince, who in confequence thereof qaufed letters to be " writ- ten to the lords ipiriiual and temporal, being proteftants, and oihor letters to the feveral coun» t See Mr. Lock? on the Diflblution of Government. ( 23 ) counties, cities, univcrfities, boroughs and cinqne-ports, for the chufing fuch pcrfons to reprcfent them as were of right to be fent to partiament, to meet at Weftminfter upon the 22d of January 1688, in order to fuch an eflablifhmcnt, as that their religion, laws and liberties mii^ht not again he in danger of be* ing fubvcrted." See IF. & M. {At i C. r. Upon this elections were made, and there- upon the faid lords Ipiritual and temporal and commons met, and proceeded to aflert their rights and liberties, and to the election of the Prince and Princefs of Orange to be King and Queen of England, France and Ireland, and the dominions thereto belonging. The king- dom of Scotland agreed in the fame choice : Thefe proceedings were drawn into the form of ads of parliament, and are the bafis of the a6ls of union and fuccefiion fince made, and which all together are the fure foundation of that indifpntablc right which his prelent Ma- jefty has to the Crown of Great Britain and the dominions thereto belonging ; which right it is the greateft folly to doubt of, as well as the blackeft treafon to deny. The prefent eftablirhment founded on the law of God, and of nature, was began by the convention, witR a profeHed and real view, in all parts of the Britijb empire, to put the liberties of the peo- ple out of the reach of arbitrary power in all times 10 come. But the grandeur, a? well as jnftice, equity and goodncls of the proceedings of the nation en '!*• i; 11 li I iiki \\v, (24) on that memorable occafion, never Iiave beerl nor can be fo well reprefented as in the words of thofe great men who compofed the con- vention ; for which reafon partly, but prin- cipally becaufe they (hew the rights of all Bri- tifti fubjeds, both at home and abroad, and fhould therefore be in as many hands as pof» fible ; I have tranfcri'ucd the following claufcs. I IV. & M. fcfT. I . chap. I . preamble and fee. I. entitled — " An aft for removing and preventing all queftions and difputes concerning the allem- bllng and fitting of this prefent parliament. For preventing all douutr and (cruples which may in any wile arife concerning the r set- ing, fitting and proceeding of tliis prefent parliament ; be it declared and enafted by tl e, King's and Queen's mod: excellent Majeflies, by and with the advice and confent of the Jordp- fpiritual and temporal, and commons, now afremblcd, and by authority of the fame. Ildly. That the lords fp! ritual and tempo- ral, and commons, convened at Weflminfter, the two and twentieth day of January A. D, .^688, and there fitting the 13th of February ibllowing, are the tvv'o houfes of parliament, «jid fo fliall be and are hereby declared, enabl- ed and adjudged to be, to all intents, con- ilruftions, and purpofes whatfoever, notwith- llanding any want of writ or writs of fnm- mons, or any other defe(5t of form or default whatfoever, as if they had been Ibinmoncd ac- cording to the ulual form. I of ' ( 25 ) . . I of JV. G? M. fell. 2. chap. 2. ^qc. 3, 4, 5» 6, II, 12. An act declaring the right.-, and hberties of the fuhjedt, and fettling the fucceftion cf the Crown. Whereas the lords fpirltnal and temporal, and commons, aflembled at Weftminfter, law- fully, fully and freely reprefenting all the eftates of the people of this realm, did upon the 13th of February A. D. 1688, preient unto their M;ijeflics, then called and known by the fiames imd ftile of William and Mary, Prince and Princefs of Orange, being prefent in their proper perfons, a certain declaration in writing, made by the faid lords and com- mons in the words following, viz. Whereas the late King James the fecond, by the aiTiftartce of divers evil counfellors, judges, and minifters employed by him, did endeavour to fubvert and extirpate the protef- tant religion, and the laws and liberties of this kingdom. 1. By alTuming and exercifing a power of difpenfing with and fufpending of laws, and the execution cf laws, without confent of par- liament. 2. By committing and profecuting divers worthy prelates, for humbly petitioning to be excufed from concuring to the faid affnmed power. 3. By iffuing and caufing to be executed a com million under the great feal for eredling a E court di' 1^; hi I < 26 ) court, called. The ccurt of commlilioners for ecclefiaftical caufes. 4. For levying money for and to the ufe of ♦he crown, by pretence of prerogative, for other time, and in other manner, than the fame was granted by parliament. 5. By raifing and keeping a (landing army within this kingdom in lime of peace, without conlent of parliament, and quartering foldiers contrary to law. 6. By caufing feveral good fubjedls, being proteftants, to be difarnicd, at the fame time when papifts were both armed and employed, contrary to law. 7 By violating the freedom of ele^ion of members to ferve in parliament. 8. By profecutions in the court of King'o Bench, for matters and caufes cognizable only in parliament ; and by divers other arbitrary and illegal courfes. 9. And whereas of late years, partial, cor- rnpt and nnqualiiiecl perfons, have been re- turned and ferved on juries in trials, and par- ticularly divers jurors in trials for high trealon, which were not freeholders. 10. And excefiive bail hath been required of perlons committed in criminal cafes, to e- iude the benefit of the laws made for the li- berty of the fubjeds. 11. And exccffive fines have been impofedj and illegal and cruel punifhments inflicted. 12. And feveral grants and promifes made of fines and forfeitures, before any convid:ion or (27) or judgment againft the perfons, upon whom the fame were to be levied. All which are utterly and direAly contrary to the known laws and ftatutes, and freedom of this realm And whereas the faid late King James the fecond having abdicated the Government, and the throne being thereby vacant, his highnefs the prince of Orange (whom it hath pleafed Almighty God to make the glorious inftru- ment of delivering this kingdom from popery and arbitrary power) did (by the advice of the Lords fpiritual and temporal, anJ divers prin- cipal perfons of the commons) caufe letters to be written to the lords fpiritual and temporal, being proteftants, and other letters to the fe- veral counties, cities, univerfities, boroughs, and cinque - ports, for the chufing of fuch perfons to reprefent them, as were of right to be fent to parliament, to meet and fit at Weft- minfter upon the two and twentieth of Janua- ry in this year 1688, in order to fuch an efta- bli(hment, as that their religion, laws, and liberties might not again be in danger of being fubverted. Upon which letters, eledions hav- ing been accordingly made : And thereupon the faid lords fpiritual and temporal and commons, purfuant to their ref- pedtive letters and eledlions, being now af- femblcd in a full and free reprefentative of this nation, taking into their moll: ferious con- fideration the beft means for attaining the ends aforefaid -, do in the firft place (as their ancef- E 2 tors I ■'3:, I it If m i I Ml m ( ?8 ) tors In like cafe have ufualy don;e) for the vin- dicating and aflerting their antient rights and liberties, declare, , r. That the pretended power of fufpending of laws, or the execution of laws, by regal au- thority, without conferit of parliament, is il- legal. 2. That the pretended power of difpenfing with laws, or the execution of laws, by regal authority, as it hath been aflumcd and exer- cifed of late, is illegal. 3. That the commiffion for creating the late court of comrniflioners for eccjeiiallical caufes, and all other commiflions and courts of like nature, are illegal and pernicious. 4. That levying money for or to the nfe of the crown, by pretence of prerogative, with- out grant qf parliatncnt, for longer time, or in other manner, than the fame \s or ihall he granted, is illegal. 5. That it is the right of the fpbje^ls to pe- tition the King ; and all commitments and profecutions for fuch petidoning are illegal. 6. That the raifing or keeping a ftanding army within the kingdom ip time of peace, unlefs it be with confent of parliapient, is ^- gainft law, 7. That the fubje(5ts which are proteftants, may have aims for their defence, fuitable to their conditions, and as allowed by law. 8. That cledion of mernbers of parliament pudit to be free, 9' (29) 9. That the freedom of fpeech, and de- bates," or proceedings in parliament, ought pot to be impeached or queftioned in any court or place out of parliament. 10. That exceffive bail ought not to be re- quired, nor exceffive fines impofed ; nor cru- el and unufual puniflimcnts infli(5led, 11. That jurors ought to be duly impan- nellcd and returned ; and jurors which pafs upon mens trials for high treafon, ought to be freeholders. I 2. That all grants and promifes of fines and forfeitures of particular perfons before con- vJt^l:ion, are illegal and void. 13. And that for redrefs of all grievances, and for the amending, ftrcngthening, and pre- ferving of the laws, parliaments ought to be held frequently. And they do claim, demand, and infifl: up- on all and lingular the premifes, as their vin- doubted rights and liberties ; and that no de- clarations, judgments, doings, or proceed- ings, to the prejudice of the people in any of the faid premifes, ought in any wife to be drawn hereafter into confequence or example : To which demand of their right's they are particularly encouraged by the declaration of his Ilighnefs the Prince of Orange, as being the only means for obtaining a full redrefs and remedy therein Having therefore an entire confidence, that his faid Highnefs the Prince of Orange, will perfect the 4<-liverance fo far advanced bv him, *' ' an(l .JUA' m jil (30) and will ftill preferve them from the violation of their rights, which they have here alTcrted, and from all ot'ier attempts upon their reli- gion, rights and lihrrtics, n. The faid Lords fpiritnal and temporal, and commons aflrcmhl'.d at Weftininfter, do refolve that IFilitam and Mary Prince and Prlnccfs of Orange be, and be declared, King and Qnecn of England, France and Ireland, and the dominions th Te»in*o belonging, to hold the crown and r^^yal dignity of the faid kingdoms and dominions to them the faid Prince and Princefs, during their lives, and the lift of the furvivor of them j and that the fole and full exercife of the regal power be only in, and executed by the faid Prince of Orange, in the names of the faid Prince and Priiiccfs, during their joint lives ; and after their deceafes, the faid crown and royal digni- ty of the faid kingdoms and dominions to be to the heirs of the body of the faid Princefs ; and for default of fuch ifTue, to the Princefs Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her body j and for default of fuch iflue, to the heirs of the body of the faid Prince of Orange. And the Lords fpiritual and temporal, and com- mons, do pray the faid Prince and Princefs to accept the fame accordingly, IV. Upon which their faid Majefties did ac- cept the crown and royal dignity of the king- dom of England, France and Ireland, and the d minions thereunto belonging, accord-* ing to the refolutions und defjrc of the laid lords (3« ) Ic Js and commons, contained in the faid de- claration. } V. And thereupon their Majeflics were pleafed, that the faid lords fpiritual and lemporal, and commons, being the two houfes of Par- liament, (hould continue to fit, and with their Majefties royal concurrence, make ef- fedual proviiion tor the fettlement of the religion, laws and liberties of this Kingdom ; fo that the fame for the future might not be in danger again of being fubverted ; to which the faid lords fpiritual and temporal, and com- mons did agree and proceed to adl accord- ingly. VI. Now in purfuance of the premifef?, the faid lords fpiritual and temporal and com- mons, in parliament affembled, for the rati- fying, confirming and eftablifliing the faid declaration, and the articles, claufes, matters and things therein contained, by the force of a law made in due form by authority of par- liament, do pray that it may be declared and cnadled. That all and fingular the rights and liberties aflerted and claimed in the laid de- claration, are the true, ancient and indubi- table rights and liberties of the People of this kingdom, and fo (hall be efteemed, allowed, adjudged, deemed, and taken to be ; dnd that all and every the particulars aforcfaid, ihall be firmly and ftrid;ly holden and oh- ferved, as they are expreffed in the faid de- claration ; and all officers and minifters what- focver fhall ierve their Majefties and their 1^ I t 'u ;1! ■M fuc- • 1 IfH! Mi"* iw J (30 fucceflors Jlccordlng to the fame ift all times to come. XI. All which their Majefties are contented and pleafed fliali be declared, enabled, and eftablifhed by authority of this prefent parlia-» ment, and fhall ftand, remain, and be the law of this realm for ever ; and the fame are by their faid Majefties, by and with the ad- vice and confent of the lords Tpiritual and tem- poral, and commons, in parliament afTembled, and by the authority of the fame, declared, enadled, and eftablifbed accordingly. XIL And be it further declared and cna6led by the authority aforcfiid, that from and after this prefent fefllon of parliament, no difpen- fation by 72on objtante of or to any flatute of any part thereof, fhall be allowed j but that the fame (hall be held void and of no effedl, except a difpcnfation be allowed in fuch fta- tutes, and except in I'uch cafes as fhall be fpe- cially provided for by one or more bill or bills to be pafTed during this prefent fellion of par- liament. . 12 & 13 of William III. chap. 2. i^c. 3 & 4. ** Whereas it is neceflary that further pro-* Vifion be made for fccuring our religion, laws and liberties, after the death of his Majefly and the Princefs Anne of Denmark^ and in default of ifTue of the body of the faid Prin- cefs, and of his Majelly refpedllvely 5 it is enadled. That after the faid limitation fliall take effect, judges commiilions be made quam- Su m 13 'lU ( 33 ) dm fe bene gejerhitf and their falaries afcer-* tained and e(tabli(hed j but upon the addrefs of both houfes of parliament, it may be law- ful to remove them j That no pardon under the great feal of Eng- land be pleaded to an impeachment by the commons in parliament. Whereas the laws of England are the birth- right of the people thereof, and all ihe Kings and Qnpens, who ftiall afcend the throne of this realm, ought to adminiftcr the govern- ment of the fame ac ording to the faid laws, and all their officers and miniftcrs ought to ferve them according to the lame ; all the laws and ftatutes of this realm for fecuring the eftablifhed religion, and the rights and liberties of the people, and all other laws and ftatutes now in force, are by his Majefty, with the advice and confent of the lords Ipiritual and temporal, and commons, ratified and con- firmed.** I fiiall clofe this introdudtion with a paflage from Mr. Locke. *« Though, fays he, in a conftitnted com- mon wealth, ftanding upon its own bafis, and adting according to its own nature, that is, adling for the prefervation of the community, thf re can be but one fupreme power which is the legillative, to which all the reft are and mufl be lubordinate ; yet the legillative being only a fiduciary power, to adl for certain ends, there remains ftill, " in ihe people, a Jupreme power to removey or alter, the leg/jlative 'when F they IS ww^mpj 11 m I/: i! (54) t/jey find the legiflative a6i contrary to the trujl repofed in them.''* For all power given, with trnft for the attaining an end, being limited by that end, whenever that end is manifeftly neglcdcd, or oppofed, the truft mud necef- farily be forfeited, and the power devolve in- to the hands of thofe who gave it, who may place It anew where they fhalJ think heft, for their fafcty and fecurity. And thus the com* mtmity perpetually retains a fupreme power of faving themfelves from the attempts and de- ligns of any body, even of their legiflators whenever thty (hall be fo foolifh, or fo wick- ed, as to lay and carry on dcfigns againft the liberties and properties of the fubjedl. For no man, or fociety of men, having a power to deliver up iheir prcfervation, or confequently the means of it, to the abfolute will and arbi- trary dominion of another 5 whenever any one {hall go about to bring them into fuch a ilavifli condition, they will always have a right to preferve whr.t they have not a power to part with ; and to rid themfelves of thofe who invade this fundamental, facred and unaltera- ble law of felf- prefervation, for which they en* tercd into fociety. And thus the community may be faid \\\ this refptd to be always the fupreme power, but not as confidered under any form of go- vernment, becairfe this power of the people, can never take place, till the government be diilblved." Locke en Government, B. 11, C. J3. This (3S) This he fays may be done, ** from without by conqueft ; from witnin, ift. When the le- gislative is altered. Which is often by the prince, but fometimes by the whole legifla- tive. As by invading the property of the fub- jed\, and making themfelves arbitrary difpo- fers of the lives, liberties and fortunes of the people J reducing them to flavery under arbi- trary power, xhey put themfelves into a ftate of war with the people, who are thereupon abfolved from any further obedience, and are kft to the common refuge which God hath provided for all men, again ft force and vio- lence. Whenfoevcr therefore, the legiflative fhall tranfgrefs this fundamental rule of focic- ty ; and either by ambition, fear, folly or corruption, endeavour to gain themfelves, or put into the hands of any other an abfolute power over the lives, liberties and eftates of the people, by this breach of truft, they for- feit the power the people had put into their hands for quite contrary ends, and it devolves to the peop/e, who have a right to refume their original liberty, and by the eftabliftinient of a new legiflative (fuch as they (hall think fit) provide for their own fafety and fecurity, which is the end for which they are in focie- ty." Idem Chap. 9, Of Colonies in general. THIS fubjed has nevej* been very clear- ly and fully handled by any modern F 2 v/ritcr. m !<■ I'' V,) If ( 36 ) writer, that I have had the good fortune to meet with; and to do it juflice, would require much greater abilities than I pretend to, and more Icifure than I ever expedt will fall to my fhare. Even the Englijh writers and lawyers, have either intirely waved any confidcration of the nature of Co/onvs, or very lightly touched upon it, for the people of England never dif- covered much conctrn for the profperity of the Colonies, till the revolution ; and even now fome of their great men and writers, by their difcourfcs of, and conducSl towards them, cv)n- fider them all rather as a parcel of /////n the Moon, letters were often received, direftud to rhc Governor of the /y7rt«^ of New- England, Which ijland of New- England is a part of the continent of North- America, comprehcnd- iiig two provinces and two colonies ; and ac- cording to the undouifted hounds of their char- ters, containing more land than there is in the three kingdoms. But I muft cont'ne my- felf to matters of more imoortance than de- tc(5tlng the geographical blunders, or refuting the errors of dead, fuperannuated or otherwife ftupified fecretaries of ftate, who are now all out of place. If I were to define the modern Colonics, I fliould fay, they are the noble dijcoverers and Jet tiers of a new world ; from whence, as from anendlefs fource, wealth, ^nd plenty, the means of power, grandeur and glory, in a degree un- known to the hungry chiefs of former ages, have been pouring into Europe for 300 years pad : In return for which, thofe Colonifts have received from the fcveral ftates of Europe, except from Great-Britain, only fmce the re- volution, nothing but ill-ufage, flavery and chams, as faft as the riches of their own earn- ing, could furni(h the means of forging them. • A M i tfi '. '4 ' jtUlt' 'Ist^tt^ih;' *' jm ' . ■WJ*.^.**?!?,^ WM^T' { 38 ) A plantation or colony, is a fettlement of fubjedts in a territory disjointed or remote from the mother conntiy, and may be made by private adventurers or the public j but in both cafes theColonirtsare intidedto as ample rights, liberties and privileges as the fubjedts of the mother country arc, and in fome rcfpe<^s tot more. Of the natural Rights of Cohnt'is, m\ til ••» 1'^HOSE who expedl to find any thing very fatistadtory on this lubjei^ in par- tic ulai, or with regard to the law of nature ia general, in the wiitings of fuch authors as Grotius and Pujendcrf will find themfelves mu. h mffi:aken. It is their conftant pra(5tice to e/lablifli the matter of right on the matter o^faSt : This the celebrated RouJJ'eau exprefly fays of Grotius, and with the fame reafon he might have ?dded an hundred others. ** Thu learned rcfearches into the laws of nature and nations are often nothing more than the hif- tory of ancient abufes, fo that it is a ridiculous infatuation to he too fond of ftudying them.*" ** Ihis was exadly the cafe with Grotius.-f*' The fentiments on this fubjed have therefore been chiefly drawn from the purer fountains of one or two of cur Englijh writers, particulai- ly from Mr. Locke, to whom might be added 2. few of other nations ; for I have feen but a few of any country, and of i\\ 1 have feen> there Marquis D'A. t Rou/Teau. ,t> ( 39 ) there are hot ten worth reading. Grotius, B. 3. C. I. fee. 21. difcourfing of confede- rates on unequal terms, according to his man- ner, fays, *• to the incquaHty in qucflion may be referred fome of thofe rights which are now called right of protedlion, right of patronage, and a right termed mundiburgium ; as alfo that which mother cities had over theic colonies among the Grecians. For as Thucy'" dides fays, thofe colonics enjoj ed the fame rights of liberty with the other cities, but they owed a reverence to the city whence they de- rived their origin, and were obliged to render her refped: and certain expreflions ot honour, fo long as the colony was well treated** Grotius de jure belli, &c. B. i. C. 3. 21. ** Hitherto alfo (fays he) may be referred that feparation which is made when people hy one confent, go to form colonies. Far this is the original of a new and independent Jlate, ney are not content to be Jlaves, but to enjoy equal privileges and freedoniy fays l^hucy dides. And King TulliuSi in Dion. Hali. fays, we look upon it to be neither truth nor jujiice, that mo^ ther cities ought ofnecejfuy and by the law of nature to rule over their colonies" B. 2. C. 9. fee. 10. '* Colonies, fays Pufencorf, are fettled in different methods. For either the colony con- tinues a part of the common- wealth it was fent out from, o • elfe is obliged fo pay a du- tiful refped to the mother common- wealth, and to be in readinefs to defend and vindicate its ilHi ^lii^ I S' ' I :ffl ¥ i in! h; I M (40) its honour, and fo is united to it by a fort of unequal confederacy j or laftly, is ereded into a feparate common- wealth, and aflumes the lame rights with the ftate it is defcended from.*' Pufend. B. 8. C. 11. 6. ** Different common-weahhs may be for m- ed out of one by common confent, by fending out colonies in the manner ufuul in old Greece. For the Romans afterwards, when they fent a colony abroad, continued it under the jurif- didion of the mother common-wealth, or greater country. But the colonies planted by the Greeks, and after their method, coniiini> m f -i ?-■ m t W' % i* III 1 1 ' I :mi 11 :;1 (46) intered of one ifland or another. Neither the r»chcs of Jamaica, nor the luxury of a metro- poli , {liould ever have weight enough to break the halance of truth and juftice. Truth and faith belong to men as men, from men, and if ihey are difappointed in their jnft expecta- tions ot them in or e fociety, they will at leaft wi(h for them in another. If the love of truth and juftice, the only fpring of lonnd policy in any ftate, is not ftrong enough to prevent cer- tain caufcs from taking place, the arts of fraud and force will not prevent the moft fatal efFeds. In the long run, thofe who fall on arbitrary rneafures, will meet with their deferved fate. The law of nature, was not of man's making, nor is it in his power to mend it, or alter its courfe. He can only perform and keep, or difobey and break it. The laft is never done with impunity, even in this life, if it is any punifliment for a man to feel himfelf depraved; to find hmifelf degraded by his own folly and wickednefs from the rank of a virtuous and good man, to that of a brute ; or to be tranf- formed from the friend, perhaps father of his country, to a devouring Lion or Tyger. The unhappy revolutions which for ages have diftreffed the human race, have been all owing to the want of a little wildcm, com- mon lenfe and integrity, in the adminillration of thole, whom by their ftations, God had in kindnefs to the world, rendered able to do a great deal, for the benefit of mankind, with the fh pu if. lis res ill lin th (47) the exertion of a fmall portion of private and public virtue. Of the Political and Civil Rights of the Bri- tifli Colonijls, HERE indeed opens to view a large field; but I muft ftudy brevity — Few people have extended their enquiry after the founda- tion of any of their -'^hts, beyond a charter from the crown. There are others who think when they have got back to old Magna Charta, that they are at the beginning of all things. They imagine themfelves on the borders of Chaos (and fo indeed in fome refped^s they are) and fee creation rifing out of the unformed mafs, or from nothing. Hence, fay they, fpring all the rights of men and of citizens. But li^ berty was better underftood, and more fully enjoyed by our aneeftors, before the coming in of the firft Norman Tyrants, than ever af- ter, till it was found neceflary, for the falva^ tionof the kingdom, to combat the arbitrary and wicked proceedings of the Stuarts. The prefent happy and mod righteous efta- blilhment is jullly built on the ruins, which thofe Princes brought on their family ; and two of them on their own heads — The laft of the name facrificed three of the fineft king- doms in Europe, to the councils of Wgotted old women, priefts, and more weak and wicked miniilers of ftate : he afterward went a grazing in the fields of St. Germains, and there ditd in difgrace and poverty, a terrible example ^^ W' !' r i .m ( 48 ) example of God's vengeance on arbitrary princes ! The deliverance under God wrought by the prince of Orange, afterwards defervedly made King Wm. III. was as joyful an event to the colonies as to Great-Britain : in fome of them, ftcps were taken in his favour as foon as in England. They all immediately acknowledged King William and Queert Mary as their lawful So- vereign. And fuch has been the zeal and loy- alty of the colonies ever fince for that efla- blifhment, and for the proteftant fuccefliion in his prefent Majefty's illuftrious family, that I believe there is not one man in an hundred (except in Canada) who does not think him- felf under the beft national civil conftitution in the world. Their loyalty has been abundantly proved, efpecially in the late war. Their affedlioti and reverence for their mother country is un- queftionable. They yield the moft chearful and ready obedience to her laws, particularly to the power of that auguft body the parlia- ment of Great-Britain, the fupreme legiflative of the kingdom and its dominions. Thefe I declare are my own fentiments ^f duty and loyalty. I alfo hold it clear that the adt of Queen Anne, which makes it high treafon to deny " that the King with and by the autho- rity of parliament, is able to make laws and ftatutes of fufficient force and validity to liffiif and ^/W the crown, and the delcent, limita- tion,'^ inheritance and goveru?n.'nt thereof" is founded in (49 ) founded on the principles of liberty and the l5riti(li conftitution : and he that would palm the do(arine of unlimitted paflive obtditnce and non refiftance upon mankind, and thereby or by any oiher means lerve the caufe of the Pretender, is not only a fool and a knave, but a rebel againil common (qhCq, as well as the laws of God, of Nature, and his Country. f^ I alfo lay it down as one of the firft principles from whence I intend to deduce the ci- vil rights of the Britilh colonic >, that all of them are fubjedt to, and dependent on Great-Bri- tain ; and that therefore as over fubordinatc governments, the parliament of Great- Bri- tain has an undoubted power and lawful au- thority, to make adis for the general good, that by naming them, (hall and ought to be equally binding, as upon the fuhjedls of Great- Britain within the realm. This principle, I prefume will be readily granted on the other (ide the atlantic. It has been pra(5liced upon for twenty years to my knowledge, in the province of the Majfachiifetts-Bay ; and I have ever received it, that it has been io from the beginning, in this and the filler provinces, through the continent*. I am awan% fome will think it is time for me to retreat, aft-^r having exprelfed the power of the BntiHi parliament in quite fo ftrong terms. But it is from and under this very power and H its '^f ;'■'■. \ \m^ iK !■ W * This however was formally declared as to Iielain^, butfo lately as the reij^n of G. I. Upon the old principles' of con- queft the Irifli could not have fj much :o fay for aa exenipiion^ a'J the uuconc^uered ^olooills. r»' . .f'l ' ( sO 5ts a6ls, and from the common law, that thq political and civil rights of the Colonifts are derived : and upon thofe grai d pillars of li- berty Hull my defence be reftcd. At prefent therefore the reader may fuppofe, that there is not one provincial charter on the coi.rincrit; he may, if he pleafes, imagine all takr-n away, >vithout fault, without forvtiture, without tri- al or notice. All this really happcne.i to fome of them ^» the latl: century. I would h;.'ve the reader carry his imagination ftill further, and fuppofe a time may come when inftead of a prcxefs at common law, the parliament (hall give a decifive blow, to every charter in Ame- rica, and declare them all void. Nay it {hall alfo be granted, that it is barely poillble, tl* time may come, when the real intereft of ti_ whole may require an adl of parliament to an- nihilate all thofe charters. What could fol- low from all this, that would {hake one of the eflential, natural, civil or religious rights of the Colonics ? Nothing. They would be men, citizens and Britilh fubjedls nfter all. No adl of parliament can deprive them of the li- berties of fuch, unlefs any will contend that an adl of parliament can make flaves not only of one, but of two millions of the commcn- wealth. And if fo, why not of the whole .? I freely own, that I can find nothing in the laws of my country, that would julHfy the par- liament in making one flave, nor did they ever profefTedly undertake to make one. Two or three innocent colony charters have j^een threatened with deftrudlioa an hundre4 • and (5' ) and forty years paft. 1 wlfh the prefent ene- mies of thofe harmlefs charters would refltd a moment, and he convinced that an adt of par- liament that (hould demolilh thofc bugbears to the foes of hherty, would not reduce the Colonics to a ftate of absolute flavery. The ivorft enemies of the charter governments are by no means to be found in England. It is a J)iece of juftice due to Great-Britain to own, they are and have ever been natives of or refi- dents in the colonies. A fet of men in Ame- rica, without honour or love to their country, have been long grafping at powers, which they tliink unattainable while thefe charters (land irt the way. But they will meet with infur- mountabie cbftacles to their pr jcdl for en- Tip.ving the Britifh colonies, fliould thofe, a- rifnig from provincial charters be removed. It would indeed feem very hard and fevere, for thofe of the colonifts, who have charters, with peculiar privileges to lofe them. They were given to their anceftors, in confideration of their fufferines and merit, in difcoverino; and fetding America-, Our fore-fathers were foon worn away in the toils of hard labour on their little plantations, and in war with the Savages. They thought they were earning a fure inhe- ritance for their poflerity. Could they ima- gine it would ever be thought juft to deprive them or theirs of their charter privileges ! Should this ever be the cafe, there are, thank God, natural, inherent and infcparahle rights as men, and as citizens, that would remain after die ih much vvilhed for cataflrophe, and H 2 which, I' i Vi n ... i vi -, ■'.;■; i t; 1 i f ( s* ) which, whatever became of charters, can ne- ver be aboliflied de jure^ if de fa5lo^ till the' general confiajrration*. Our rights as men and freeborn Britifti fubjects, give all the co- Jonifts enough to make them very happy in comparifon with the fubjefts of any other prince in the world. Every Briiifh Subje(il born on the continent of America, or in any other of the Bfitiih do- minions, is by the la^i' of God and nature, by the common law, and by adl of parliament, (exclufive of all charters from the crown) en- tirled to all the natural, efTential, inherent and infcparable rights of our fellow fubjedls in Great-Britain. Among thofc rights are the following, which it is humbly conceived no man or body of men, not excepting the par- liament, jnftly* equitably and'Confiftently with their own rights and the coniliration, can take uway. I rt. T-hat the fupr erne and fubordinate powers, ofiegijliitionfiouldhefree and f acred in the hands where tht community have once rightfully placed them, 2dly. The ftipreiuC national kgljlathie cannot he altered jujtly till the CGUimoniJocalth is dif- Jolved, nor ajuhordinate kgijlative taken away without forftiture or other good caiife. Nor then can the fubjeds in the fubordinate govern- ment * The fine defence of" the provincial charters by Jeremy. Dumtner, Efq; the lc4:c ^-ery able and learned ag;ent for the province rf th*? Majfachufctts-Bay, makes it rxedlefs to go into a particujar confideralion of charter privilege-?. That piece is unanlWerable, but by power and mi^litj and other arguments of that kind. (S3) ment be reduced to a ftate of flavery, and Tub* jecft to the defpotic rule of others. A ftate has no right to make flaves of the conquered. Even when the fubordinate right of legiflature is forfeited, and fo declared, this cannot effedt the natural perfons either of thofe who were inverted with it, or the inhabitants*, fo far as to deprive them of the rights of fubjedts and' of men. — The colonifts will have an equitable right, nctwithftanding any fuch forfeiture of charter, to be reprefented in parliament, or to have fume new fubordinate legiflature among themfelves. It would be heft if they had both. Deprived, however, of their common rights as lubjedts, they cprs.ot lawfully be, while they femain fuch. A reprefentation in Par- liament from the feveral colonies, lince they are become fo large and numerous, as to be called on not on y to maintain provincial go-^ vcrnment, civil and military., among them- iclves, for this they have chearfully done, but to contribute towards the fupport of a national flanding army, by reafon of the heavy national debt, when they themfelves owe a large one, Goniradled in the common caufe, cannot be thought an unreafonable thing, nor if afked, could it be called an immodeit requeH:. ^« fentit commodum fenfire debet ct onu^y has been thought a maxim of equity. Biit that a man ihould bear a burthen for other people, as well as himfelf, without a return, never lung found a place in any law-book or decrees, but thofe of 1^ ^ 'H4 * See Magna Charta, the Bill of Rights. 2 Salkeld 411. Vaughan 300. Mod. i<;2. i'. 1 ''«V>,' f> il ( S6) vil rights, which by the laws of their coun- try, all Britifli fubjeds are entitled to, as iheir bed inheritance and birth-right, that all the northern colonies, who are without one rc- prcfentatiye in the hoiife of Comnions, (hould be taxed by the British parliament. That the colonifts, black and white, bora Jiere, are free born Britilh fubjeds, and enti- tled to all the effential civil rights of fuch, is a truth not only manifeft froni the provincial charters, from the principles of the commor* law, and adls of parliament i but from the Bri- tifh conftitution which was re-eftabliflied at the revolution, with a profefled defign to fe^ cure the liberties of all the lubjedts to all ge-" Derations *. In the 12 and 13 of Wm. cited above, the liberties of the fubjcGt are fpoken of as their beft birth-rights-^No one ever dreamed, fi^re* ly, that thefe liberties were confined to the realm. At that rat-;, no Britiih fubjedls in the dominions could, without a manifeft contra- didlion, be declared entitled to all the privi- leges of fubjedls born within the realm, to all intents and purpoles, which are rightly given foreigner*:, by parliament, after refiding feveii years. Thefe expreflions of parliament, as well as of the charters, muft be vain and emp- ty founds, unltfs we are allowed the effen-r tial rights of our fellow- fubjeds in Qreat-Bri-p tain. Now can there be any libertv, where pro- perty is taken away without confent ? Can it with * See the convention, and a£ts coniirming it. (S7) with any colour of truth, juftice or equity, be affirmed, that the northern colonies are reprefenred in oarliament ? Has rhis whole continent, of near three thoufand miles in length, and in which, and his orher Ame- rican dominions, his Majefty has, or very foon will have, fome millions of as good, loyal and ufeful fnbjedls, white and black, as any in the three kingdoms, the eledion of one mem-- ber of the houfe of commons ? Is there the leaft difference^ as to the con- fent of the Colonifts, whether taxes and impo- iitions are laid on their trade, and other pro- perty, by the crown alone, or by the parlia- ment ? As it is agreed on all hands, the Crown alone cannot impofe them, we fhould be juftifiable in refufing to pay them, but mufl: and ought to yield obedience to an adl of par- liament, though erroneous, till repealed. , I can fee no reafon to doubt, but that the impofition of taxes, whether on trade, or on land, or houfes, or fhips, on real or perfonal, fixed or fioa|ing property, in the colonies, is abfolutely irreconciktable with the rights of the Colonifts, as Britifli iubjeds, and as men. 1 fay men, for in a flate of nature, no man can take my property from me, without my confent : If he doe'"^, he deprives me of my liberty, and makes me a flave. If fuch a pro- ceeding is a breach of the law of nature, no law of fociety can make it juft. — The very adt of taxing, exercifed over thofe who are not rcprefented, appears to me to be depriving tjiem of one of their mofl eiiential rights, as I free- M lU 'r': '}-! M W 'i it. 'i ' ' J 58) freemen j and if contifiued, feems to be irt effcCl an entire disfranchifement of every civil righ:. For what one civil right is worth a ruih, after a man's property is fubje6t to b6 taken from him at pleafure, without his con- fent ? If a man is not his owfi ajfejfor in per- fon, or by deputy, his liberty is gone, or lays inrirtly at the mercy of others. I think I have heard it faid, that when the Dutch are afked why they enllave their colo- nies, the:'" anfwer is, that the liberty of Dutch* men is confined to Holland ; and that it was never intended for Provincials in America, or any where elfe. A fentiment this, very wor- thy of modern Dutchmen j but if the-r brave and worth_j anceftors had entertained fuch nar- row ideas of liberty, feven poor and didreffed provinces would never have aflcrted their rights againft the whole Spanifh monarchy, of which the prefent is but a (hadow. It is to be hoped, none of our fellow fubjedls of Bri- tain, greater fmall, have borrowed this Dutch maxim of plantation politics j if they have, thty had better return it from whence it came j indeed they had. Modern Dutch or French maxims of ftate, never will fuit with a BriiiCh conftitution. It is a ma\im, thit the King can do no wrong ; and every good fubjedl is bound to believe his King is not inclined to do any. We are bleffed with a prince who has given abbndant dcmonftrations, that in all his actions, he ftudies the good of his people, and the true glory of his crown, which are in- feparable. It would therefore be the highefl d'e- (59 ) degree of impudence and difloyalty to imagine tlui the King, at the head of his parliament, could have any, but the moft pure and perfe(^t intentions of juftice, goodnefs and truth, that human nature is capable of. All this I fay and believe of the King and parliament, in all their adls ; even in that which fo nearly affedts the intereft of the colonifts ; and that a moft perfedl and ready ob*»dicnce is to be yielded to it, while it remains in force. I will go fur- ther, and really admit, that the intention of the miniftry was not only to promote the pub- lic good, by this acSjt, but that Mr. Chancel- lor of the Exchequer had therein a particular view to the *• eafe, the quiet, and the good will of the Colonies," he having made this declaration n^ore than once. Yet I hold thjit it is pollible he may have erred in his kind in- tentions towards the Colonies, and taken away our fifb, and given us a ftone. With regard to the parlianient, as infalibility belongs not to mortals, it is poffible they may have been mifinformed and deceived. The power of parliament is uncontroulable, but by them- felves, and we muft obey. They only can repeal their own adls. There would be an end of all government, if one or a number of fubjedts or fubordinate provinces (hould take upon them fo far to judge of the julHce of an fldt of parliament, as to refufe obedience to it. If there was nothing elfe to reftrain fuch a ftep, prudence ought to do it, for forcibly relifting the parliament and the King^s laws, is high Jreafon. Therefore let the parliament lay I a , what 1^ ' (6o) what burthens they pleafe on us, we mnft, it is our duty to fubmit and patiently bear them, till they will be pleafed to relieve us. And it is to be prefumed, the wifdom and juftice pf that augufi aflembly, always will afford us re- lief by repealing fuch adls, as through miftake, pr other human infirmities, have been fuffered to pafs, if they can be convinced that their pro- ceedings are not conftitutional, or not for the common good. The parliament may be deceived, they may have been mifmformed of fadls, and the colo- nies may in many refpedts be mifreprefented to the King, his parliament, and his mini- flry. In fome inftances, I am well afl'ured the colonies have been very flrangely mifre- prefented in England. 'I have now before me a pamphlet, called *^The Adminiftration of the Colonies," faid to be written by a gentleman who formerly commanded in chief in one of them. I fuppofe this book was defigned for public information and ufe. There are in it many good regulations propoled, which no power can enforce but the parliament. From all which I infer, that if our hands are tied by the pafling of an adt of parliament, our mouths are not flopped, provided we fpeak of that tranfcendent body with decenpy, as I Jiave endeavoured always to do ^ and fhould any thing haye efcaped me, or hereafter fall from my pen, that bears the lead afpe(51: but that ot obedience, duty and loyalty to the |Cing and parliament, and the higheft refpedt for the miniftry, the candid will impute it to {6i) die agony of my heart, rather than to the pra* vity of my will. If I have one ambitious wifli, it is to fee Great- Britain at the head of the world, and to fee my King, under God, the father of qiankind. I pretend neither to the fpirit of prophecy, nor any uncommon fkill in prediding a Crifis, much lefs to tell when it begins to be " nafcent" or is fairly midwiv'd into the world. But if I were to fix a mean- ing to the two firft paragraphs of the Admini- Jiration of the Colonies^ though I do not colled: it from them, I ftiould fay the world was at the eve of the higheft fcene of earthly power and grandeur that has been ever yet difplayed to the view of mankind. The cards are fliuf- fling faft through all Europe. Who will win the prize is with pod. This however I know, fletur digniori. The next qniverfal monarchy will be favourable to the human race, for it piuft be founded on the principles of equity, moderation and juftice. No country has been more dilhnguilhed for thefe principles than Great-Britain, fince the revolution. I take it, every fut)jed: has a right to give his fentiments to the public, of the utility or inutility of any z6\. whatfoever, even after it is paiTed, as well as while it is pending.-^The equity and juftice of a bill may be queftioned, with perfed fub- milBon to the legillature. Reafons may be given, why an ad ought to be repealed, and yet obedience muft be yielded to it till that repeal takes place. If the reafons that can be given againft an ad, are fuch as plainly dc- pionftrate that it is againft natural equity, the B/i-n P Il l\ *:} (61) executive courts will adjudge fuch a6ls void. It may be queftioned by fome, though I make no doubt of it» whether they are not obliged by their oaths to adjudge fuch adls void. If there is nor a right of privax judgment to be exercifed, f > far at leaft as to petition for a re- peal, or to determine the expediency of rifk- ing a trial at law, the parliament might make itleU arbitrary, which it is conceived it can- not by the conftitution.— I think every man has a right to examine as freely into the origin, fpring and foundation of every power and xneafure in a common weakh, as into a piece of curious machineiy, or a remarkable pheno- menon in nature j and that it ought to give no more offence to fay, the parliament have erred, or ate miftaken, in a iiiaiter of faO, or of right, than to fay it of a private man, if it is true of both. If the aflertion can be proved with regard to either, it is a kindnefs done them to (hew them the truth. With re- gard to the public, it is the duty of every good citizen to point out what he thinks erroneous in the commonwealth. I have waited years in hopes to fee fome one friend of the colonies pleading in public for them. I have waited in vain. One pri- vilege is taken away after another, and where we (hall be landed, God knows, and I truft will prote5 ) England, which I cftecm by far the befl: na- ii'ofjdi church, and to have had as ornaments of it many of the greatcft and beft men in t!,e world. But to thofe colonies who in general diifent from a principle of confcicnce, it would fecm a little hard to pay towards the fupport of a worfliip, whofe modes they cannot con- firm ♦^o. If an afmy mnfl be kept up in America, at the e5(pence of the colonies, it would not feem quitd fo hard if after the parliament had de- termed the Aim to be raifed, and apportioned it, to have allowed each colony to aflefs its quota, iind raife it as eafily to themfelves as iliight be. But to have the whole levied and collcdled without our confent is extraordinary: It is allowed even to tributaries, and thofe laid under military contribution, to afTcfs and colledl the fums demanded. The cafe of the provinces is certainly likely to be the hardcft that can be inftanced in ftory. Will it not equal any thing but down right military exe- cution ? Was there ever a tribute impofed e- Ven on the conquered ? A fleet, an army of foldiers, and another of tax-gatherers kept up, and not a fingle office either for fecuring or colledling the duty in the gift of the tributary flate. I am aware it will be obje£ted, that the parliament of Englandy and of Great-Britain, lince the union, have from early days to this time, made a6ts to bind if not to tax Ireland : I anfwer, Ireland is a cofiquered country. I do not, however, lay ib much ftrcfs on this ; for K . it . . . . ^ ^^ ^ - ' it is my opinion, that a conquered country has^ upon fubmifllon and good behaviour, the fluiiC right to be free, under a conqueror, as, the reft of his fubjedis. But the old notion of the right of conquefty ha^ been, in moft na- tions, the caufe of many feverities and heinous breaches of the law of nature : If any fuch have taken place with regard to Ireiandy they fliould form no precedent for the colonies. The fubordination and dependency oi Ireland to Great-Britain, is exprcfly declared by act of parliament, in the reign of G. I. The fubordination of the Colonics to Great-Britain, never was doubted, by a lawyer, if at all; unlefs pcihaps by the author of the Admini' Jlration oj the colonies : He indeed ieems to make a moot point of it, whether the colony legiflativc power is as independent ** as the legillative Great-Britain holds by its conftitu- tion, and under the great charter."— The people hold under the great charter, as it is vulgarly exprefled from our law-books : But that the King and parlianient fhould be faid to huld under Mdgna Charta, is as new to me, as u is to qujftion whether the colonies are Jlibordinate to Great-Britain. The provincial Icgiflaiive is unqiieftionably fubordinate to that ot Great-Britain. 1 fhall endeavour more fully to explain the nature of that fubordination, which has puzzled fo many in their enquiries. It is often very diffijult for great lovers of power, and great lovers of liberty, neither of whom may have been ulcd to the fludy of law in any of its branches, to fee the difference be- ( 67 ) between fubordination, abfulute flavery and fiibje^lion on one fide, and liberty, indepen- dence and licencioulhefs on the other. We (houid endeavour to find the middle road, and confine ourfclves to it. The laws, the proceedings of parliament, and the decifions of the judges, relating to Ireland^ will reiiecS light on this fubjc(5l, rendered intricate only hy art* ** Ireland being of itfelf a difl:In(5l dominion, and no part at the kingdom of England (as it diredlly appeareth by many authorities in Calvin's caie) was to have Parliament's' holden there as in England." 4 Inft. 349,. Why fiiould not the colonies have, why are they not enti[led to their alieiiiblies, or parliaments, at leaft, as well as a conquered dominion ? '* Wales, after the conqueft of it "by Ed- ward the Firft, was annexed to England, ;W^ proprietatisi i 2 Ed, I. by the flatute of Rut- land only, and after, more really by 27 H. 8. and 34, but at firft received laws from Eng- land, as Ireland did ; but writs proceeded not out of the Englilh chancery, but they had a chancery of their own, as Ireland huth ; v/as not bound by the laws of England, unnamed till 27 H. 8. no more than Ireland is. Ireland in nothing differs from it, but ^wv- Ing a parliament ^A^Z/V; i?f^_g-/j (i.e. upon the old notion of conquefl) fubji-d; (truly however) to the parliament of England. None doubts Ireland as much conquered as it 3 and as much K z ftib-* t' ij«*:. 11^ (68 ) /ubjeB to the parliament of England^ if it pleafej^ ^ Vaughan. 300. A very ftrong argument arifes from this authority, in favour of the uncongmred phnr tations. If fince Wales was annexed to Eng- land, they have had a reprefentation in parlia- ment, as they have to this day ; and if the parliament of England does not tax Ireland, can it be rrght they {hould tax us, who have never been conquered^ but came from England to coionizCt and have always remained goodj'ub^ jeBs to this day ? I cannot find any inftanceof a tax laid by the Englifh parliament on Ireland. ** Some- times the King q\ England called his Nobles of Ireland, to come to his parliament of Eng- land, &c. and by fpecial words, the parlia- n^ent of England may bind the lubjeds of Ireland." — 3 lu/l. 350. — The following m-tkes it clear to me, the parliament of Great-Britain do not tax Ireland, ** The parliament of Ireland having been pro- rogued to the month of Auguft next, before they had provided for the maintenance of the go^ *Dirnment in that kingdom, a project was fet on foot here to fupply that defedl, by retrenching the drawbacks upon goods exported thither from England. According to this fcheme, the 2 2d, the houfe in a grand committee, confidered the prefent laws with refpedl to drawbacks upon tobaccoes, muflms, and Eaft India filks, carried to Ireland j and came to two refolutions, which were reported the next day, and, with an amendment to one of them. agreed T {69) agreed to by the houfe, as follows, viz. 1 .That three pence per pound, part of the drawback on tobacco to be exported from Great-Britain for Ireland, be taken off, 2, That the faid diminution of the draw^ back do take effect upon all tobacco exported for Ireland, after the 24th of March 17 13, and continue until the additional duty of three pence haL^penny per pound upon tobacco in Ireland, expiring on the faid 24th of March, be regranted : and ordered a bill to be brought in, upon the faid refolutions." Proceedings of Houfe of Com. "Vol. 5. 72. This was conftitutionil ; there is an infinite difference between taking off Britifh draw- backs, and impofir^g Irifti or other Provincial duties. ** Ireland is confidered as a provincial gOt- vernment, fubordinate to, but no part of the Realm of England," Mich. 1 1. G. 2. in cafe of Otway and Ramfay— ** Ads of parlia- ments made here (i. e. in England) extend not to Ireland, unlefs particularly named j much lefs judgments obtained in the courts here 5 nor is it pofTible they fhould, becaufe we have 110 ofhcers to carry them into execution there." ib. The firft part feems to be applicable to the plantations in general, the latter is not ; for by reafon of charter rcfervations and particu- lar a6ls of parliament, fome judgments in Eng- land may be executed here, as final judg- ments, before his Majefly in council on a plantation appeal, and lo from the admiralty. If ( 7° ) It feems to have been difputed in Ireland, £o lately as the 6 Geo. i . Whether any ad: of the Britifli parliament bound Ireland ; or at lead it v/as apprehended, that the undoubted right of the Britifli parliament to bind Ireland, was in danger of being fhaken : this, I pre- fume, occafioned the adl of .that year, which declares, that " the kingdom of Ireland ought to be fubordinate unto and dependent upon the Imperial Crown of Great- Britain, as being in~ Separably united thereto. And the King's Majeily, with the confent of the lords and jcominons of Great-Britain in parliament, hath tpowcr to make laws to bind the people of Ire- land. "-^This parliamentary power muft have fome bounds, even as to Ireland, as well as the colonieo, who are admitted to be fubordi- nate ab initio to Great-Britain i not as con^ quered, but as emigrant fubjeds. U this adl ihould be faid to be a declaration not only of the general, but of the univerfal power of par- liament, and that they may '.ax Ireland, I aik, Why it has never been done ? If it had been idone a thoufand times, it would be a contra- diction to the principles of a free government j and what is worfe, deftroy all fubordination confident with freedom^ and reduce the peo- ple to Jlavery, To fay the parliament is abfolute and arbi- trary, is a contradidion. The parliament can- not make z and 2, 5 : Omripotency cannot do it. The fupreme power in a Hate, is jus dicere only: — jus dare, ftridlly fpeaking, be- longs alone to God, Parliaments are in all calos d, of at ed .d, re- he n- ( 7' ) cafes to declare what is for the go(5d of the whole ; hut it is not the declaration of parlia-* ment that makes it fo ; There muft be in every inftance, a higher authority, -y/c. GOD. Should an a6l of parliament be againft any of" Lis natural laws, which are immutably true, their declaration would be contrary to eternaL truth, equity and jufticc, and confequently- void : and fo it would be adjudged by the par-* Hament itfelf, when convinced of their mif^ take. Upon this great principle, parliaments repeal fuch ac5l, as foon as they find they have been miflaken, in having declared them (o be for the public good, when in fadt they were rtot fo. When fuch miftake is evident and palpable, as in the tnftances In the appendix, the judges of the executive courts have declared the adl: " of a whole parliament void." See here the grandeur of the Britifh conftitution ! See the wifdom of our anceftors! The fupreme legijlative, and the fupreme executive, are a- perpetual check and balance to each other. If the fupreme executive errs, it is informed by the fupreme legiflative in parliament : if the fupreme legiflative errs, it is informed by the fupreme executive in the King's courts of law. Here, the King appears, as reprefented by his judges, in the highefk luftre and majefty, as fupreme executor of the commonwealth i and he never fhines brighter, but on his throne, at the head of the fupreme legiflative. This is government ! This, is a conflitution ! to pre- lerve which, cither from foreign or domcflic foes, has coil oceans of blood and treafure in every j*tL' I ■ ( 72 > every age 5 and the blood and- the treafiire have upon the whole been well fpent. Britifh A- merica, hath been bleeding in this caufe from its fettlem6nt : we have fpent all we could raife, and more ; for notwithftanding the par- liamentary reimburfements of part, we ftill remain much in debt. The province of the MaJfachufettSt I believe, has expended m(>»re men and money in war fince the year 1620, when a few families firft landed at Plymouth, in proportion to their ability, than the three Kingdoms together. The fame, I believe, may be truly affirmed, of many of the other colonies j though the Majfacbufetts has un- doubtedly had the heavieft burthen. This may be thought incredible : but materials are collecting ; and though fome are loft, enough may remain, to Jemonftrate it to the world, I have reafon to hope at leo.ll:, that the public will foon fee fuch proofs exhibited, as will ihew, that I do not (peak quite at random. Why then is it thought fo heirjoiis by the author of the adminiftration of the colonics^ and others, that the colonifts fhould afpire af- ter *• a one whole legillative power" not in- dependent of, but fubordinate to the laws and parliament of Great-Britain ? — It is a miftake in this author, ti bring fo heavy a charge as high treajon agpinft fome of the colonifts, which he doe*: m effedl in this place*, by re- prefenting them as ** claiming in fadl or in- deed, ♦^he fame full free independent unre- ftrained power and legiflativc will; in their fe- veral * Page 39 of the adminiftratiorj. V g ■ '"ifiiH!Kiv>'*uuu.'.'«if,«».«n>(iwimii!aMnj«.;.«9 ( 73 ) Veral corporations, and under the King's coni- itifiricn, and their refpedive charters, as the government and legiflatiire of Great-Britain holds by its conflitution and under the great charter." No fuch claim was ever thoiisht of by any of the colonifts. They are all better men and better fubjedls ; and many of them too well verfed in the laws of nature and na- tions, and the law and conftitution of Great- Britain, to think they have a right to more than a provincial fubordinate Igijlarive. All power is of GOD. Next and only fubordi- nate to him in the prcfenc flare of the well- formed, beautifully conftrudied Briti{h mo- narchy, ftanding where I hope it ever will iland, for the pillars are fixed in judgment, righteoufncfs and truth, is die King and Par- liament. Under thefe, it feems eafy to con- ceive fubordinate powers in gradation, till we defcend to the legiflative of a town council, or even a private focial club. Thefe have ea:h *' a one whole legiflative" fubordinate, which, when it does not counteract the laws of any of its fuperiors, is to be indulged. Even when the laws of lubordii. ition are t ran fgrt fl- ed, the fuperior does not deflroy the fubordi- nate, but will negative its a6ls, as it may in all cafes when difapproved. This righ* of ne- gative is effential, and may be inforced : but in no cafe are ihe eflential rights of the lubjects, inhabiting the fubordinate dominions, to be deftroycd. This would put it in the power ot ibe luperior to reduce rhc inK"r:o; to a fiate offlavcry; which cannot be rii;hdally done, L even mi. •t J^ ( 74 ) iM even ./ an d rek-/s. Aft( enemies fatisfadion and fccurity is obtatned of the for- mer, and examples are made of fo many of the latter, as the ends of government require, the reft are to be reftored to all the efl'ential rights of m-S have been fo remarkable for loyalty, that there never has been any in- flan< V ot rebellion or treafon in t-bem. This Iryalty is, in very handlbme terms, acknow- leL{Li;<,d by tl;e author of the adimnijlratmi of the colonies. ** It has been often fuggefted, thac care fliould be taken in the adminiftration of the plantations, left, in feme future time, thcfe colonies lliould become independent of the mother country.'* But perhaps it may be proper on this cceafton, nay, it is juftice to lay it, that if, by becoming independent, i'S rJK-ant a revolt, noihing is farthei? from their nature, their interefts, their thoughts. If a d^tedion from the aUinnee of tiie mother coun- try be luggefted, it ought to be, and can be tru y faid, that their fpirit abhors the fenfe of fuch J their attachment to the proteftant fuc- ceftion in the houfc of Hanover, will ever ftand iinlhaken ; and nothing can eradicate from their hearts, their natural and almoft mecha- nical afFcdlion to Great-Britain, which they conceive under no other lenfe, nor call it by any other name than that of home. Any fuch fng- (75) fii!j;gcfllon, therefore, is a falfe and unjufl: af- perfion on their principles and affections ; xnd can arife from nofhing bur an intire ignorance •of their circiimftances*." After ail thi^ loyalty, it is a little liard to be charged wiih c aiming, and reprefenred as alpiring after, indepen- dency. The inconfillcncy of this 1 1 ave. We have faid that the loyalty of the colonies has never been fufpedled ; this miift be reftridted to a juft fufpicion. For it feems there have long been gronndlefs fufpicions of us in the minds of individuals. y\nd there have always been thofe who have endeavoured to magnify thcfe chimerical fears. I find Mr. Dummer complaing of this many years fmje. ^* 1 here is, fays he, one thing more I have heard ofien urged againft the charter colonies, and indeed it is what one meets with from people of ali conditions and qualities ; though, with due refpedl to their better judgments;, I can fee neither reafon nor colour for it. It is faid that their increafmg numbers and wealth, joined to their great diflance from Britain, will give them an opportunity, in the courfe of fomc years, to throw oft their dependence on the nation, and declare themfelves a free ftate, if qot curbed in time, by being made entirely Jubjecl to the crown'fJ* • This jealoufy has been fo long talked of, that many feem to believe it well grounded. Not that there is any danger of " a revolt", even in the opinion of the author of the admi- nijiratmii butthatthc colonitls will by fraud or L a forc€ *■' Adn>inillration, p. 25, z6. ■'• D^f.-ncc, 6q. «' 1 '■ ) ; f 'ii: ( 76 ) force, avail tliemfclves, in ** fa(5t or in dleed"^ of an independent Icgiflauirc. This, I think, v/onid be a rcvoltiig with a vengeance. What h'ghvi revolt can there be, than for a province to p.flurri'^ the rigb.J of an independent Icgifla- tivt, or {fate ? | iiiiiil: therefore think this a greater afperfion on the Colonifts, than to charge them with a defign to revolt, in the fenie in which the Gentleman allows they have been abided: It is a more arttul and dangerou3 way of attacking our liberties, than to charge us with being in open rebellion. That conic| be CO futed ii.flant y: but this feeming ineliredt "Way of charging the colonies, with a defire of throwing otf their deper 'cncy, requires more pauis to confute it than . le other, therefore it has been rtcuncd to. The truth is. Gentle- men have had departments in America, the fujiclions of whi h they have not been fortu- ne le in cxecu.in^. The people have by thefe mean"^ been rendered uneaiy, at bad Provincial IVJealures. They have betn reprefcnted as fadious, fediiious, and inclined to democracy, whenever they have rcfufed paflive obedience to provincial mandates, as arbitrary as thofe of a Turkifli B "fhaw : i fay. Provincial man- dates ; fur to the King and Parlianient they have been ever lubmiflive and obedient. Thefe reprefe.jtations of us, many of the good people of England fwallow with as niuch cafe, as they would ?* bottle-bubble, or any other llory of a cock and a bull ; and the worfl of it is, among fome of the mofl credulous, have been found Stars and Garters. However, tbey {77) tliey mav all red afiured, the Colonjfts, wha do not pretend to undcrltand themfelves (b we'll as the people ot England ; though the author of the Adininiftri'.ion makes them the fine compliment, to ii^^'t they ** know their bufinefs much better," yet, will never think of independency. Were they inclined to ir, they know the blood and the trcafure it would coft, if ever effeded j and when done, it would be a thoufand to one if their liberties did not fall a facrifice to the vidlor* We all think ourfelves happy under Great- Britain. We love, cfteern and reverence our mother country, and adore our King. And co.uld the choice of independency be offered the colonies, or fubjedtion to Great-Britaia upon any terms above abfolute flavery, I am convinced they would accept the latter. The mifnllry, in all future generations, may rely on it, that Britifli America will never prove undutiful, tdl driven to it, as the laft fatal re-? fort agai aft mini fterial oppreiTion, which will make the wifefl mad, and the weakeft ftrong. Thefe colonies are and always have been« " entirely fubjecSl to the crown," in the legal fenfe of the terms. But if any politician of ** ^tampering adlivitv, of wrong-headed ex- perience, miflcd to be meddling," means, by f* curbing the colonies in time," and by '* be;Lcpt enemies, may fakly come into England, with their goods and f:' ike ( 83 ) -and merchandize" — 2 Inft. 2"S.^^And why not as well to the plantations ? Are they not entitled to all the Bntilh privileges ? No, they muft be con-fined in their imports and exports, to the good of the meiropolis. Very well, wc have fubmitted to this. The ad: of naviga- tion, is a good a(ft, fo are all that exclude fore^ ign manufidlures from the plantations, and every honeft man will readily lubfcribe to them. Moreover, ** Merchant llrangers, are alfo to come into the realm and depart at plea- fure ; and they are to be friendly entertained." 2 Ri. C. I. But to promote the manufidlurcs of England, it is thought beft to fliut up tlie colonies in a manner from all the world. Right as to Europe : but for God's fake, muft we have no trade with other colonies ? In fome cafes the trade between Britijh colony and co- lony is prohibited, as in wool, &c. Granting all this to be right, is it not enough ? No, duties and taxes muft be paid without any coji^ fent or reprejentatlm in parliament. The common law, that ineftimab'e privilege of a jury, is alfo taken away in all trials in the co- lonies, relating to the revenue, if the inform- ers have a mind to go to the admiralty ; as they have ever done, and ever will do, for very obvious rcafons. ** It has ever been boafted, fays Mr. Dummer in his defence of the charters, as the peculiar privilege of an Englishman, and the fecurity cf his property, to be tried by his country, and the law;- of the land : whereas this admiralty method deprives him of both, as it puts his cftate in the dif- M Z i^oial •jrKV" I < ■ (84) pofal of a fingle perfon, and makes the civil law ihe rjle of judgment ; which though it rnay not properly be called foreign, being the law of nation.% yet it is what he has not con- fented ro himfelf, nor his reprefentative for him. A jurifdldion therefore fo founded, ought not to e'\tend beyond what neceffity requires.** -— ** If fome bounds are not fet to the jurifdlc^ tion of the admiralty, beyond which it (hall not pafs, it may in time, like the element to which it ought to be confined, grow outrage- ous, and overflow the banks of all the other courts of juftice.'* I believe it has never been doubted by one found, common lawyer of England, whether a court of admiralty ever anfwered many good ends j ** the court of King's bench has a power to reftrain the court of admiralty in England ; and the reafons for fuch reftn>ining power are as ftrong in Newr J)nghnd as in Great-Britain," and in fome reA pedis rnoie fo : yet Mr. Dummer mentions, a clamour that was raifed at home by a judge of the admiralty for Ncw-Fngland, who com- plained ** that the common law courts by granting prohibitions, weaken, and in a man- ner fupprefs the authority of this court, and all the good ends for which it was conftituted.' Thus we fee, that the court of admiralty long ago difcovered, no very friendly difpofition towards the common law courts here j and the records of the houfe of Reprefentatives afford us a notable inftance of one, who was expelled fhe houfe, of which he had been an unworthy ( 8s ) jmerr-Lve, , for the abufive mifreprefentatlons of the province, by him fecretly made. Trade :ind traffic, fays lord Coke, " is the iivtlihood of a merchant, the life of the com^ nionwealth, wherein the King and . A. m It t I M llC . { 92 ) in whole, disfranchifed of rightsi that have been always thought inherent to a British iub- ](.t\, namely, to be free from all taxes,, but what he confents to in perfon, or by his re- ptefentative ? This right, if it could be traced no higher than Magna Charta, is part of the common law, part of a Britiih fubjedls birth-, right, and as inherent and perpetual, as the duty of allegiance j both which have been brought to thefe colonies, and have been hi^ thtrto h' Id facred and inviolable, and I hope and tturt ever will. It is humbly conceived, that the Britifh colonlfts (except only tha conquered, if any) are, by Magna Chaira, as Well entitled to have a voice in their taxes, as the fubjtdts within the realm. Are we not as really deprived of that right, by the parha-* nient afieiTing ns before we are reprcfented in the houfe of commons, as if the King (hould do it [jy his prerogative ? Can it be iaid with any colour of truth or juftice, that we are re-- prefenied in parliament ? ; / • . As 10 the colonics being reprefented by the provincial agents, I know of no power ever given thvni, but to appear before his Majefty, and his miniftry. Sometimes they have been directed to petition the parliamer;t i But they none of them have, and I hope never will have, a powxr given them, by the colonifts, to adl as reprefentatives, and to content to taxes ; and if they fliould make any concef'- fions to the miniftry, efpccially without ordeo the provmces could not by that be conhdered a§ reprefented in parliament, J7/« (93) ' Hlberma habet Parliamenia & faciunf leges et no/ira ftatuta non ligant eost quia non mittant milites ai 'Parliament um. fed perjonce eorum junt fubjeSli R^'gis, ficut inbabitantes Czlina GaJcO" nice Cif Guience, i^-^t; : :-:^^:' t:; •> ^ •,c^;..:i,>? <••:■■. ' 1 • « , 12 Rep. III. cites R. 3. 12 — i ^ *« Ireland hath parliaments, and make laws, and our ftatutes do not bind them, becauje they fend no knights to parliament j but their per- fons are fubjeds of the King, as the inhabi- tants of Guiene, Galcony, &c.'* .:^t:; ■*<•] : : 7 ;Yet, if fpecially named, or by general words included as within any of the King's dominions, Ireland, fays Ld. Coke, might be bound. ! -5 !■ J. ^ \ 4lnft. 351. . From all which, it feems plain, that the reafon why Ireland and the plantations are not bound, unlefs named by an adt of parliament, is» becaufe they are not reprefented in the Bri- ti(h parliament. Yet, in fpecial cafes, the Britiih parliament has an undoubted right, as well as power, to bind both by their ai^s. But whether this can be extended to an indefi- nite taxation of both, is the great queftion. I conceive the fpirit of the Briti(h conftitution mud make an exception of all taxes, until it is thought fit to unite a dominion to the realm. Such taxation muft be confidered either as u- niting the dominions to the realm, or disfran- chifirig them. If they are united, they will be intitlcd to a reprefentation, as well as Wales ; if they are fo taxed without a union, or reprefentation, they are fo far disfranchifed. ic; I 'll i f (94) I do not find any thing that looks like a duty on the colonies before the 25th of C. IF. e. 7. impofing a duty on innunrieratcd com- modities. The liberty of the fubje pure affec- tion to jny King and country, and amount to no refledlion on any man. The beft army, and the beft men, we may hereafter have,, may be led into temptation j all I think, is,, that a prevention of evil is much ealier than a deliverance from it. The fum of my argument is, That civil go- vernment is of God : that tae admin iftrators of it were originally the whole people : that they m»'ghi have devolved it on whom they pleafed : that this devolution is fiduciary, for the good ot the whole : that by the Britifhcon- ftitution, this devolution is on the King, lords and comrr ons, the lupreme, facred and uncon- troulable legillative power, not only in the realm, but tiirough the dominions : that by the abdication, the original compadl was bro- ken to pieces : that by the re^^olution, it Was renewed, and more firmly eftablifhed, and the rights and liberties of the fubjcdt in all- parts ot the dominions, more fully explained and confirmed : that in confcquence of this efta- ^ (99 ) €ftabll(hment and the adls of fucceiTion and u- fiion, his Majefty George IJI. is rightful king and foverci<>n, and with his parliament, the fupremelegidative of Great-Britain, France and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto be-? longing : that this conftitution is the moll free one, and by far the beft, now exifting on earth : that by this conllitution, every man in the dominions is a free man : that no parts of his Majeft:y's dominions tan be taxed without their conlent : that every part has a righi: to be reprefented in the fupreme or fomc fubordinate Icgiilature : that the refufal of this, would feem to '>e a contradidlion in pratflice to the theory of the conftitution : that the colonies are fubordinate dominions, and are now in fuch a ftate, as to make it heft for the good of the whole, that they fliould not only be con- tinued in the enjoyment of fubordinate legi- slation, but be alfo reprefented in Ibme pro- portion to their number and eftatcs in the grand legiflation of the nation : that this would firmly unite all parts of the Britifli empire, in the greateft peace and profpcrityj and rcndcj- 1% mvulnerablc and perpetual. m ' -'I !■ O 2 APPENDIX. \ ! APPENDIX. U ' r i I 'i I m w uP. is Ms m The City of Bofto7i^ at their AnnuaJ Meeting in May, ^764> made Choice of Rkhcird Danay yofeph Green^ Nathaniel Bethune^ y^l^^ Ruddock^ Efqrs; and Mr. Samuel Adams, to prepare Instructions for their REPRESENTATIVES. . The following Inftrudlions were reported by faid Committee, and unanimoufly Voted. To Royal Tyler* y yames Otis, Thomas Cujhing^ and O^enbridge Thacher^ Efqrs. Gentlemen, YOUR being chofen by the freeholders and inhabitants of the town of Bojlon^ to reprefent them in the General Alfembly the enfuing year, affords you the Rrongeft teftimo- ny of that confidence which they place in your integrity and capacity. By this choice they have 1 * Now of the honourable Board ; in whofe room was re^ ^urnej Mr. Thomas Graj, Mer^haut, ( lOI ) have delegated to you the power of adling la their public concerns in general, as your own Prudence (hall diredl you j always refcrving to themfclves the conftitutional right of exprcff- ^ng their mind, and giving you fuch inftruc- tion upon particular matters, as they at any ;tjirne (hall judge proper. We therefore, your conftituents, take this opportunity to declare our juft expe(flations from ypu. That ypu will conftantly ufe your power .and influence in maintaining the invaluabl(? rights and privileges of the province, of which ^his town is fo great a part : As well thofc rights which are derived to us by the royal charter, as thofe which being prior to and in- dependent on it, we hold ellentially as free- born fubjeds of Great-Britain j That you will cndeayour, as far as you (hall jbe able, to preferve that independence in the houfe of reprefentatives, which charaderifes ^ free people -, and the want of which may in a great meafure prevent the happy effedts of a free government : Cultivating as you fhall have opportunity, that harmony and union there, which is ever defirable to good men, jivhen founded on principles of virtue and pubr lie fpirit ; and guarding againft any undue weight which piay tend to difadjuft that critir pal balance upon which our happy conftitu- ^ion, and the blellings of it do depend. And for this purpofe, we particularly recommend it to you to life your endeavours to have a law palled, whereby the feats of fuch gentlemen as ['• /) ii I'i 'rii I pi V- f m 38;- 3- m ( IG2 ) as fliiill accept of ports of profit from the Crown, or the Governor, while they are mem- bers of the houf'e, (hall be vacated, agreeable to an a(5t of the Britifli parliament, till their conftituents fliail have the opportunity of re- eledling them, if thry plcale, or of returning others in their room. Being members of the legiflative body, ynu will have a fpccial regard to the morals of this people, which are the bafis of public happi- nefs J and endeavour to have fuch laws made, if any are ftill wanting, as (hall be beft adapted to fecure them : And we particularly defirc you carefully to look into the laws of excife, that if the virtue of the people is endangered by the multiplicity of oaths therein enjoined, or their trade and bufi efs is unreaf.inably im- peded or embarrafled thereby, the grievance may be redreffed. As the prefeivation of morals, as well as property and right, fo much depends upon the impartial diftribution of juftice, agreeable to good and wholefome law : And as the judges of the land do depend upon the free grants of the general aHembly for fupport ; it is incumbent upon you at all times to give your voice for their honourable maintenance, fo long as they, having in their trinds an in- difflrence to all other affairs, ftiall devote them- felv^'S wholly to the duties of their own departs ment, and the farther ftudy of the law, by which their cudoms, precedents, proceedings and detenninL^aons are adjufted and limited. You will rcineiuber that this province hath been -V ( 103 ) been at a very sreat expence in carrying on the war; and that it ftill lies under a vcrv grievous burden of debt : You will therefore tile your uimoft endciivonr to promote pubiic friigahty as one means to lefl'en the public debt. You will join in any propofals which may be made for the better cultivating the lands, and iir}proving the hufbandry of the province: and as you rcprefent a town which lives by its trade, we expcdl in a very particular manner, that you make it the objedl of your attention, to fiipport our commerce in all its juft rights, to vindicate it from all unreaibnable impo- fitions, and promote its profpcrity. Our trade has for a long tjme laboured under great difcouragements j and it is with the deepeft concern that we fee fuch farther difficulties coming upon it, as will reduce it to the lowcft ebb, if not totally obftrud and ruin it. Wc cannot help expreffing our furprize that when fo early notice was given by the agent, of the intentions of the miniftry, to burthen us with new taxes, fo little regard was had to this mort interefting matter, that the court was not even called together to conlult about it till the latter end ot the year ; the confequence of which was, that inflrudions could not be fent to the agent, though f^'licited by him, till the evil had got beyond an eafy remedy. There is now no room for farther delay : We therefore expert that you will ufe your earliell: endeavours in the General Afi'embly, that fuch methods may be taken as will eftec- tiial'v t 1 1 ?f i I *^i I m I k ill ( 104 ) tually prevent thele proceedings againfl: us. By a proper repn^fentation, we apprehend ?t may eafily be made to appear that fuch feve- rities will prove detrimental to Great-Britain itfelf ; upon which account we have reafon to hope that an application, even for a repeal of the act, {hould it be already pafled, will be fuccefsful. It is the trade of the colonies that Tenders them beneficial' to the mother country : Our trade, as it is now, and always has been conduced, centers in Great-Britain, and in return for her manufactures, affords her more ready cafli, beyond any comparifon, than can poilibly be expedled by the moft fanguine pro- moters of thefe extraordinary methods. Wc are in (hort ultimately yielding large fupplieis to the revenues of the mother country, while we are labouring for a very moderate fubfift- ence for ourfelves. But if our trade is to be curtailed in its mod profitable branches, and burdens beyond all poffible bearing laid upon that which is fuffered to remain, we (hall be fo far from being able to take off the manu- fadures of Great-Britain, that it will be fcarce poilible for us to earn our bread. — But what ilill heightens our apprehenfions is, that thefe unexpected proceedings may be preparatory to new taxations upon us : For if our trade may be taxed, why not our lands ? Why not the produce of our lands, and every thing we pofTefs or make ufe of ? This we apprehend annihilates our charter right to s^o- vern and tax ourfelves — It ftrikes at our Bri* tifli privileges, which a? we have never for- feited iUV- ( '*J ) felted them, we hold in common with our fel* low-fubjfcds who are natives of Britain : If taxes are laid upon us in any (hape without our having a legal reprefentatlon where they are laid, are we not reduced from the charac- ter of free fubjedts to the miferable flate of tributary flaves ? We therefore earneftly recommend it to you to ufe your utmoft endeavouis, to obtain in the general aflembly, all necefTary inftruc- tion and advice to our agent at this moft cri-» tical jundlure j that while he is fetting forth the unftiaken loyalty of this province and this town-— its unrivaled exertion in fupporting his Majefty's government and rights in this part of his dominions — its acknowledged depen^ dcnce upon and fubordination to Great-Bri- tain ; and the ready fubmiflion of its mer- chants to all juft and necelTary regulations of trade ; he may be able in the moft humble and prefling manner *o remonftrate for us all thofe rights and privileges which juftly belong to us either by charter or birth. As his Majefty's other northern American colonies arc embarked with us in this moft im- por^nt bottom, we farther defire you to ufe your Endeavours, that their weight may be added to that of this province : that by the united application of all who are aggrieved. All nviy happily obtain redrefs-, I M Zuhjlance «.,•.« ! I WW . ( ic6 ) Stdjlmtce of a Memorial prefentcd the Houfe, in purjuance of the above Injirudiions j and by. ■ them 'voted to be trarfmitted to Jasper . Maudu 1 T, Efq\ Agent for this Province*-, to be improved as he may judge proper. H THE public tranfadlions from William I. to the revolution, may be confidered as one continued ilruggle between the prince and the people, all tending to that happy efta- blifliment, which Great-Britain has fmce en-» joyed. . ' . ';......:•.._.., The abfolute rights of Engliflimen, as fre- quently declared in parliament, from Magna Charta to this time, are the rights of ferfonal fecurity, perfonal liberty y and of private pro^ perty. : ; The allegiance of Britifli fubjefts being na-^ tural, perpetual and inftparablc from their perlons, let them be in what country they may -, their rights are alfo natural, inherent and perpetual. . : - By the laws of nature and of nations, the voice of univerfal reafon, and ol God, when a nation takes pofleffion of a defert, unculti- vated and uninhabited country, or purchafcs of Savages, as was the cafe with far the greateft part of the Britifh leltlements ; the colcnifts tranfplaniing themfelves, and their pofterity, though ftparated from the principal ellablifli- ment, or mother country, naturally become part of the flate with its ancient pofleflions, and ' Only as ?. State drawn up by one of the Houfe, i ) ( 107 ) and intitled to all the elTential rights of the mother country. This is not only confirmed by the pradlice of the antients, but by the moderns ever fince the difcovery of America. Frenchmen, Spaniards and PortugUele are no greater flaves abroad than at home ; and hi- tJierto Britons have been as free on one fide of the Atbntic as on the other : And it is humbly hoped that his Majefty and the Parliament, will in their wifdom be gracioully oleafed to continue the colonifts in this happy ftate. It is prefumed, that upon thefe principles, the colonifts have been by their feveral char- ters declared natural fuhjed:Si and entrufted with the power of making their own local tlawsy not repugnant to the laws of England, and with the power of taxing themfehes. This legiflative power is fubjed: by the fame charter to the King's negative, as in Ireland. This effedlually fecures the dependence of the colonies on Great-Britain.— By the thirteenth of George the Jecond, chapter the ninth, even foreigners having lived fcven years in any of the colonies, are deemed natives on taking the oaths of allegiance, ^c. and are declared by the faid adl to be his Majcfty's natural born fubjedls of the kingdom ot Great-Britain, to all intents, conftruftions and purpofes, as if any of them had been born within the king- dom. The reafons given for this naturaliza- tion in the preamble of the adl are, ** that the increafe of the people is the means of advanc- ing the wealth and ftrength of any nation or country -, and that many loreigners and ftran- P 2 gers. ■K i m III" m ( io8 ) gers, from the lenity of our government, the purity of our religion, the benefit of our laws, the advantages of our trade, and the fecurity of our property, might be induced to come and fettle in fjme of his Majcfty's colonies in Ameiicaj if they were partakers of the ad- vantages and privileges, which the natural born fubjdts there enjoy*." The feveral a(fts of parliament and char- ters declaratory of the rights and liberties of the colonies, are but in aflirmance of the com- mon law, and law of nature in this point. There are, fays my Lord Coke, regularly three incidents to fubjeds born. ( i .) Parents under the a(^ual obedience of the King. (2.) That the place of his birth be within the King's dominions. (3.) The time of his birth to be chiefly confidered : For he cannot be a fubje(5l born of one kingdom, that was born under the allegiance of the King of ano- ther kingdom ; albeit afterwards the kingdom defcends to the King of the other kingdom. See Calvin's cafe, and the feveral a(5ls of par- liament and decifionp on naturalization, from Edward the Third to this day. The common law is received and pra(3:ifed upon here, and in the reft of the colonies ; and all antient and modern adls of parliament that can be confidered as part of, or in amendment of the common law, together with all fpch adls of parliament as exprefly name the plantations j fo that the power of the Britifh parliament is held as facred and as uncontroulablc in the coloniea * 13 G. 2. C. 7, ( 109 ) colonies as In England. The queftlon Is not upon the general power or right of the par- liament, but whether it is not circumfcribed widiin fome equitable and reafonable bounds? It is hoped it will not be confidered as a new dodlrine, that even the authority of the par- liament of Great-Britain is circumfcribed by certain bounds, which if exceeded, their adls become thofe of meer power without right, and confequently void. The judges of Eng- land have declared in favour of thefc fenti- ments, when they exprefly declare, that aBs of' parliament againfl natural equity are void. That a5ls againjl the fundamental principles of the Britijh conjlitution are void^. This doc- trine I I * ♦' A very important queftion here prefents Itfelf. It ef- fentlally belongs to the fociety to make Jaws both in relatioa to the manner in which it defires to be governed, and to the condufl of the citizens : this is called the Legijlati.ve Powoer, The nation may entraft the exercife of it to the Prince, or to an aflembly ; or to theaffembly and the Prince jointly ; v/ho have then a right of making new, and abrogating old laws. It is here demanded whether, if their power extends fo far as to the fandamental laws, they may change the conftitution of the ftate ? The principles we have laid down lead us to decide this point with certainty,- that the authority of thefe legiflators does not extend fo far, and that they ought to confider the fundamental laws as facred, if the nation has not in very ex- prefs terms given them the power to change them. For the conftitution of the ftate ought to be fixed ; and fince that was firft eftablilhcd by the nation, which afterwards truft<:d certain perfons with the legiflative power, the fundamental laws are excep:ed from their commiffion. It appears that the fociety )iad only refolved to make provifion for the ftate's being always f 'rnifiied with laws fuited to particular conjunftures, and gave the legiflature for that purpofe, the power of abrogating the antient civil and political laws, that were not fundamental, and of making new ones : but nothing leads us to think that it was willing to fabmit the conftitution itfelf to their pleafurc. When 1^ ( no) trine is agreeable to the law of nature and na- tions, and to the divine didlatcs of natural and revealed religion. It is contrary to reafon that the fupreme pow^er fhould have right to alter the conftitution. This would imply, that thofe who are intruded with Sovereignty by the I 4 • When a nation takes pofleffioaof a diftantcbuntry, and fet- tles a colony there, that country though feparated from the principal eftabliShment, or mother country, na'urally becomes a part of the ftate, equally with its antient pofleffions. 'A hen- ^er the political laws, or treaties, make no diftinftion be- tween them, every thing faid of the territory of a nation, (blight alfo to extend to its colonies." D' Vattel. " An aft of parliament made againft natural equity, as to make a man judge in his own caufe, would be void : for Jura natura lunt immutabilia. Hob 87. Trin. iz. Jac Day v. Sa- vat-e S. C. and P. cited Arg 10 Mod. 115. Hill. 11 Ann. C. B. in the cafe of Thoinbyand Fleetwood, " but fays, that this muft be a clear cafe, and judges will llrain hard rather than interpret an aft void, ab initio " Thii is granted, hut ftill their authority is not boundlefs, iffuhje£l to the controul of the judges in any cafe, '* Holt, Chief juftice, thought what Lord Coke fays in Doftor Bonham's ute caufe julHce to be done him, with regard to what gave rife to the war, and require payment foi* the e^^pence and da- mage he has fui aincd ; he may according to the exigency of the cafe impofe penalties on it as an example, he may, fhould prudence fo didate, difable it from undertaking any pernicious defigns for the future. But in fecuring all thefe views tbd xnildeft means are to be preferred. We are always to remem*- ber, that the law of nature permits no injury to be done to ah enemy, unlefs in taking meafures neceflary for a juft defence, and a reafonable fecurity. Some princes have only impofed a tribute on it ; others have been fatisfied of ftriping it of fome privileges, difmembeiing a province, or keeping it in awe by lortrefles ; others as their quarrel was only with the fovereign in perfon, have left a nation in the full enjoyment of a!I its rights, only fetting a fovereign over it. But if the conqueror thinks proper to retain the fovereignty of the variquiflied Hate, and has fuch a right; the manner in which he is to treat thd ilate ftill flows from the fame principles. If the fovereign be only the juft objeft of his complaint, reafon declares that by his conqueft he acquires only fuch rights as aftually belongecf to the dethroned fovereign, and on thefubmiffionof his peopld he is to govern it according to the laws of the ftate. Ifthd people do not voluntarily fubmit, the ftate of war fubfifts.'* ** When a fovereign as pretending to have the abfolute dif^ pofal of a people whom he has conquered, is for inflaving them, he caufes the ftate of war to fubfift between this people and him." . Mr.D' Vattel, B. 3. C. 10. fee. 201. * The Cabots difcovercd the Continent bcfors the Spaniards, I* te at 10 >» ( 113) Jf, as the fortunate Britons have been from rnoft of their neighbours oa the continent df Europe. It is for the intereft of Great- Bri- tain that her colonies fhould be ever thus di- ftingui(hed. Every man muft wilfully blind himielf that don't fee the immenfe value of our acquiiitions in the late war ; and that though We did not ritain all at the ccnclulion of the peace that we obtained liy the fword j yet our gracious Sovereign, at the fame time that he has given a divine leffbn of equitable mode- ration to the princes of the earth, has retained fufficient to make the Britifh arms the dread of the univerfe, and his name dear to all poftcrity. To the freedom of the Britidi conftitution* and to their increafe of commerce, it is owing that our colonies have flourirtied without di- mlnifhing the inhabitants of the mother coun- try ; quite contrary to the efFe(fts of planta*- tions made by moft other nation^, which have fuffered at home, in order to aggrandize themfelves abroad. This is remarkably the cafe with bpain. The fubjcdls of a free and happy conftitution of government, have a thoufand advantfiges to colonize above tliofe who live under defpotic princes. We fee how the Britifli colonies on the continent, have out-grown thofe of the French, notwithftand- ing they have ever eng iged the S ivages to keep us back. Their advantages over us in the Weft-Indies are, among other caufes per- haps, partly owing to thete, i. A capital neg- lect in former reigns, in fjftering them to have a firm poflclTion of fo many valuable iflands, that we had a better tide to th^n they. 2. The French unable to puih their Q_ fet- It ill §1 §:!■ ( iM ) . . fettlements effectually on the continent, have bent their vicv*^s to the illands, and poured vaft numbers into them, 3. The climate and bufinefs of thefe iflands is by nature much better adapted to Frenchmen and to Negroes, than to Britons. 4. The labour of llaves, black or white, will be ever cheaper than that of freemen, becaufe that of the individu- als among the former, will never be worth lb much as with the latter ; but this difference is more than fupplied ; by numbers under the advantages abovcmentioned. The French will ever be able to fell their Weft-India produce cheaper th.m our own iilanders : and yet while our own iilanders can have fuch a price for theirs, as to grow much rieher than the French, or any other of the King's fubje£ts in America, as is the cafe, and what the northern colonies take from the French, and other foreign iflands, centers finally in returns to Great-Britain for her manufactures, to an immenfe value, and ^I'ith a vaft profit to her : it is contrary to the lirft principles of policy to clog fuch a trade with duties, much more to prohibit it to the rifque if not certain deftrucSlion of the fifh- ery. It is allowed by the moft accurate Bri- tilh writers on commerce, Mr. Poftlethwait in particular, who feems to favour the caufe of the fugar iilands, that one half of the im- mCnfe commerce of Grdat-Britain is with her colonies. It is very certain that without the iifhery feven-eights of this commerce would ceafe. The fi(hery is the center of motion, upon which the wheel of all the Britifli com- merce in America turns. Without the Ame- rican trade, would Britain, as a commercial Aate, |ve id Ite :h :s, ;s, lan th ce ( "5 ) ftate, make any great figure at this day in Eu- rope ? Her trade in woollen ;ind other manu- failures, is faid to be leflening in all parts of the world, but America, where it is increaf- ing, and capable of infinite incrcafc, from a concurrence of every circumftance in its fa- vour. Here is an extenfive territory of dif- ferent climate?, which in time will confumc, and be able to pay for as many manufatflures as Great-B'-itain and Ireland can make, if true maxims are purfued. The French, for rea- fons already mentioned, can underwork, and confequently underfell the Englifti manufac- tures of Great-Britain in every market in Eu- rope. But they can fend none of their ma- nufa(ftures here j and it is the wi{h of every honeft British American that they never may; it is beft they never (hould ; we can do better without the manufa(5lures of Europe, fave thofe of Great- Britain, than with them : But without the French Weft-India produce we cannot j without it our fi(hery muft infallibly be ruined. When that is gone, our own iflands will very poorly fubfift. No Britifh manufactures can be paid for by the coloniftp. What will follow ? One of thefe two things, both of which it is the intereft of Great-Bri- tain to prevent, i , The northern colonifts muft be^content to go ilaked, and turn Savages; or, 2. Become manufadurers of linen and woollen, to clothe themfelves; which, if they cannot carry to the perfection of Europe, will be very Jcitrudtive to the interefts of Great- Britain. The computation has been made, and that within bounds, and it can be de- monftratcd, that if North- America is only O 2 driven •4 I m nitf (I'M driven to the fatal neceflity of manufadluring a luit of the moft ordinary linen or woollen for each inhabitant annually, which niay be foon done, when neceflity, the mother of invention, fliall operate, Great-Britain and Ireland will lofo two m'llions/>^r annutrit be- fides a dim'nution of the revenue to nearly the fame amount. This may appear paradoxical, bi't a 'ew years experience of the execution of the iiigar adl, w';ll fufliciently convince the parliiment not only of the inutility, but de- ilrrCtive leniency of it, while calculations nii'V be little attended to. That the trade with ihe col nies has been of furprizing ad- vantage to Great-Britain, notwithllanding the want rf a good regulation is paft all doubt. Grva»-B itain is well known to have increafcd prodigioufly both in numbers and in wealth lince uie began to colonize. To the growth of the plantations Britain is in a great mea- fure indebted for her prefentrichesandftiength. As the wild waltes ot America have been turn- ed into plealant habitations, ard flourishing trading towns ; fo many of the little villages and obfcure U roughs in Grcac- Britain have put on a new face, and fuddenly ftartcd np, and become fair markets, and manufadluring towns, and opulent cities, London Ultilf, which bids fair t) be the metropolis of the world, is live times more populous than it was in the days of Queen Elizabeth. Such are the fruits cf the fpirit of commerce and liberty. Hence it is manifeft how much we all owe to that bcdutif'il form of civil government, under whi' h we have the happincls to live. It IS evidently the intcrell", and ought to be the T e» T ( "7) the care of all thore intrurted with the admini- ftration of government, to fee that every part of the Britifli empire enjoys to the full the rights they are intiiled to by the laws, and the advantages which refult from their being main- tained with impartiality and vigour. This we have feen reduced to pradicc in the prefent and preceding reigns ; and have the higheft leafon, from the paternal care and goodneff, that his Majefty, and the British parliament, have hitherto been gracioufly pleafed to dif- cover to all his Majefty's dutiful and loyal fub- jedls, and to the colonifts in particular, to reft fatisfied, that our privileges will remain facrcd and inviolate. The connedlion between Great- Britain and her colonies is fo natural and ftrong, as to make their mutual happinefs depend upon their mutual fupport. Nothing cau tend more to the deftrudlion of both, and to forward the meafures of their enemies, than fovving the feeds of jealoufy, animofity and did'ention be- tween the mother country and the colonics. A convi6lion of the truth and importance of thefe principles, induced Great-Britain during the late war, to carry on fo many glorious en-» tei prizes for the defence of the colonies ; and thole on their part to exert themfelves beyond their ability to pay, as is evident from the par- liamentary reimburftments. If the fpirit of commerce was attended to, perhaps, duties would be every where de- creafed, if not annihilated, and prohibitions multiplied. Every branch of trade that hurts a community, fliould be prohibited, for the fame reafon that a private gentleman would break ofF commerce with a (harper or an ex- torfive !!!';., rr fti:^ ( M^ y torfive ufurer. le is to no purpofe to higgi,. with fuch people, you are fure to lofe by them. It is exadlly lb with a nation, if the balance is againft them, and they can pofTibly fibfift without the commodity, as they generally can in fuch cafes, a prohibition is the only remedy j for a duty in fuch cafe, is like a compofuion with a thief, that for five (hillings in the pound returned, he fliall rob you at pleafure j when, if the thing is examined to the bottom, you are at five (hillings expence in travelling to get back your five (hillings, and he is at the fame expence in coming to pay it, fb he robs you of but ten (hillings in the pound, that you thus wifely compound for. To apply this to trade, I beUevc every duty that was ever im- pofed on commerce, or in the nature of things can be, will he found to be divided between the ftate impofing the duty, and the country exported from. This, if between the feveral parfs of the fame kingdom or dominions of the fame Prince, can only tend to embarrafs trade, and raife the price of labour above othei ft^tes, which is of very pernicious confequence to the huibandman, manufacturer, mariner and mer- chant, the four tribes that fupport the whole hive. If your duty is upon a commodity of a -foreign ftate, it is either upon the whole ufe- ful and giinful, and therefore nece(rary for the hulbindman, manufadlurer, mariner or merchant, as finally bringing a profit to the ilate by a balance in her favour ; or the im- portation will work a balance againft your ftate. Th^^re is no medium that we know of. If the commodity is of the former kind, it fhould be prohibited j but if the latter, im- ported 1 i 1 ( "9 ) ported duty free ; unlefs you would raifc the price of hbour by a duty on necellaries, or make the above wife compofition for the im- portation of commodities you arc fure to lofe by. The only teft of a ufeful commodity is the gain upon the whole to the ftate ; fuch fhooid be free j the only teft of a pernicious trade is the lofs upon the whole, or to the commanity ; this fhould be prohibited. If therefore it can be demonftrated that the fugar and molaffes trade from the northern colonies to the foreign plantations is upon the w.bo/e a lofs to the commzinify, by which term is here meant the three kingdoms and the Britifh do- tninions taken colle(5tively, then, and not till then, (hoiild this trade be prohibited. This never has been proved, nor can be *, the con- trary being ceitain, to wit, that the nation upon the whole hath been a vaft gainer by this trade, in the vend of and pay for its ma- nnfadnres ; and a great lofs by a duty upon this trade will finally fall on the Britifli huf- bandman, manufadurer, mariner and mer- chant, and confequentlly the trade of the na- tion be wounded, and in conftant danger of beirtg eat out by thofe who can underfell her. The art uf under feHing, or rather of finding means to underfell, is the grand fecret of thrift among commercial ftates, as well as among individuals of the fame ftate. Should the Britiili fugar iflands ever be able to fupply Great Britain and her northern colonies with thofe articles, it will be time enough to think of a total prohibition j but until that time, both prohibition and duty will be found to be diametrically oppofue tc the firft principlc«of policy. a; # *( I2;b ) ..policy. ' Such the extenj of this continent^ .and the increafe of its inhabitants, thatifevefy ^^inch of the BritKh fugar iflands was as well ^cultivated as any part of Jamaica or Barbadoes:* fihey would not now be able to fupply Great- , Britain, and the colonies on this continent. ; B'Jt before fuch farther improvements can he . fuppofed to take place in our iflands, the de- *.mands will be proportionably increafed by the ►increafe of the inhabitants on the continent. .Hence the reafon is plain why the British fu- ,gar planters are growing rich, and ever will, j^beca«fe the:deii|j|o4 for their produce has, and '.ever will be. greater than they can poiTibly •fapply, fo long as the Englifli hold this coiv tinent, and are unrivalled in the fifliery. . . W!? have every thing go id and great to hope l^f pin our gracious Sovereign, his Miniftry and *,&s.Pafliament ; andtruil that whei]f th^e feryices xJiTid fuflbrirgs of the Pfitiih Americain cplonifcs ^are fully Jinpwn to the mother country,; .ai^ /jbe n^turerani. importance of tae plantation ^.txaxk ^ore^ffecSlly underftood at hpme, that jihe.lnpft^effe^ftual meafures wil! be taken for '^ecpstua^ng the British empire in.,all parts of ihc^^iidh An empire built upon the prin- cij^esofjuftice,. moderation ap4 ecjuity, the jpnly |)rinciples tl^t can makca ftat^ flo'uriflx- Jng;, and enable it' to elude the macHinatiojts lof itsfccret and inveterate enemies. ■/*.6\ fiy antient and modern gods, F. jo, .1 mean," «11 ic|6l5, from thole of Old Egypt, to the canonized monfters o£ mo- dern Rome; and by ktng-craft arid "pHdft-craft, civil and ccclefitftic polity* as adminHlc^rcd in g6L-/»r till the revo- lution. I now recoHeft that i have been credibly informed th%t the Biiiifli Sugar colonifis^ are humane . towards their i'' with the others. TheMfbr? in page tareign Sugar-lflandefs (ind foreign ■i f I ^' ■ r "if* es, in CO A ftp, let it be Cycles. II 1^ i>ri j«:t>> 4- * le is Is, 10- nd ro- icd i eir ige i n I'M.