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diff --git a/old/55489-0.txt b/old/55489-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index fe51089..0000000 --- a/old/55489-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7016 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Representative British Orations with -Introductions and Explanatory Notes,, by Charles Kendall Adams - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Representative British Orations with Introductions and Explanatory Notes, Volume I (of 4) - -Author: Charles Kendall Adams - -Release Date: September 6, 2017 [EBook #55489] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REPRESENTATIVE BRITISH ORATIONS, VOL 1 *** - - - - -Produced by Larry B. Harrison, Charlie Howard, and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - -Uniform with British Orations - - - AMERICAN ORATIONS, to illustrate American Political - History, edited, with introductions, by ALEXANDER - JOHNSTON, Professor of Jurisprudence and Political - Economy in the College of New Jersey. 3 vols., 16 mo, - $3.75. - - PROSE MASTERPIECES FROM MODERN ESSAYISTS, comprising - single specimen essays from IRVING, LEIGH HUNT, LAMB, - DE QUINCEY, LANDOR, SYDNEY SMITH, THACKERAY, EMERSON, - ARNOLD, MORLEY, HELPS, KINGSLEY, RUSKIN, LOWELL, - CARLYLE, MACAULAY, FROUDE, FREEMAN, GLADSTONE, - NEWMAN, LESLIE STEPHEN. 3 vols., 16 mo, bevelled - boards, $3.75 and $4.50. - - - G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS, NEW YORK AND LONDON - - - - - REPRESENTATIVE - BRITISH ORATIONS - - WITH - INTRODUCTIONS AND EXPLANATORY NOTES - - BY - CHARLES KENDALL ADAMS. - - _Videtisne quantum munus sit oratoris historia?_ - —CICERO, _DeOratore_, ii, 15 - - - ✩ - - - NEW YORK & LONDON - G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS - The Knickerbocker Press - 1884 - - - - - COPYRIGHT - G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS - 1884. - - - Press of - G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS - New York - - - - - TO - - A. D. A. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - SIR JOHN ELIOT 1 - - SIR JOHN ELIOT 13 - ON THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND UNDER THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM. - DELIVERED IN HOUSE OF COMMONS, JUNE 3, 1628. - - JOHN PYM 27 - - JOHN PYM 37 - ON THE SUBJECT OF GRIEVANCES IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES I. - HOUSE OF COMMONS, APRIL 5, 1640. - - LORD CHATHAM 85 - - LORD CHATHAM 98 - ON THE RIGHT OF TAXING AMERICA. HOUSE OF COMMONS, JANUARY - 14, 1766. - - LORD CHATHAM 120 - ON AN ADDRESS TO THE THRONE CONCERNING AFFAIRS IN AMERICA. - HOUSE OF LORDS, NOVEMBER 18, 1777. - - LORD MANSFIELD 143 - - LORD MANSFIELD 150 - ON THE RIGHT OF ENGLAND TO TAX AMERICA. HOUSE OF LORDS, - FEBRUARY 3, 1766. - - EDMUND BURKE 172 - - MR. BURKE 182 - ON MOVING RESOLUTIONS FOR CONCILIATION WITH AMERICA. HOUSE - OF COMMONS, MARCH 22, 1775. - - ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES 299 - - - - -PREFACE. - - -The three small volumes here offered to the public have been prepared -in the hope that they would be of some service in showing the great -currents of political thought that have shaped the history of Great -Britain during the past two hundred and fifty years. The effort has -been not so much to make a collection of the most remarkable specimens -of English eloquence, as to bring together the most famous of those -oratorical utterances that have changed, or here tended to change, the -course of English history. - -Eliot and Pym formulated the grievances against absolutism, a -contemplation of which led to the revolution that established Anglican -liberty on its present basis. Chatham, Mansfield, and Burke elaborated -the principles which, on the one hand, drove the American colonies -into independence, and, on the other, enabled their independence to -be won and secured. Mackintosh and Erskine enunciated in classical -form the fundamental rights which permanently secured the freedom of -juries and the freedom of the press. Pitt, in the most elaborate as -well as the most important of all his remarkable speeches, expounded -the English policy of continuous opposition to Napoleon; and Fox, in -one of the most masterly of his unrivalled replies, gave voice to that -sentiment which was in favor of negotiations for peace. Canning not -only shaped the foreign policy of the nation during the important years -immediately succeeding the Napoleonic wars, but put that policy into -something like permanent form in what has generally been considered the -masterpiece of his eloquence. Macaulay’s first speech on the Reform -Bill of 1832 was the most cogent advocacy of what proved to be nothing -less than a political revolution; and Cobden, the inspirer and apostle -of Free Trade, enjoys the unique distinction of having reversed the -opinions of a prime-minister by means of his persuasive reasonings. -Bright embodied in a single eloquent address the reasons why so many -have thought the foreign policy of England to be only worthy of -condemnation. Beaconsfield concentrated into one public utterance an -expression of the principles which it has long been the object of the -Conservative party to promulgate and defend; and Gladstone, in one -of his Mid-Lothian speeches, put into convenient form the political -doctrines of the Liberals in regard to affairs both at home and abroad. -It is these speeches, which at one time or another have seemed to go -forth as in some sense the authoritative messages of English history to -mankind, that are here brought together. - -The speeches are in almost all cases given entire. A really great -oration is a worthy presentation of a great subject, and such an -utterance does not lend itself readily to abridgment, for the reason -that its very excellence consists of a presentation in just proportion -of all its parts. An orator who has a great message to deliver, and -who fulfils his task in a manner worthy of his subject, excludes -every thing that does not form an essential part of his argument; and -therefore in editing these orations it has seldom been thought wise to -make either reductions or omissions. In a few instances, notably in -the speeches of Fox and Cobden, a few elaborations of purely local and -temporary significance have been excluded; but the omissions in all -cases are indicated by asterisks. - -In the introductions to the several speeches an effort has been made -to show not only the political situation involved in the discussion, -but also the right of the orator to be heard. These two objects have -made it necessary to place before the reader with some fulness the -political careers of the speakers and the political questions at issue -when the speeches were made. The illustrative notes at the end of the -volumes are designed simply to assist the reader in understanding such -statements and allusions as might otherwise be obscure. - -I cannot submit these volumes to the public without expressing the -hope that they will in some small measure at least contribute to a -juster appreciation of that liberty which we enjoy, and to a better -understanding of the arduous means by which free political institutions -have been acquired. - - C. K. A. - - UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, ANN ARBOR, - _November 22, 1884_. - - - - -SIR JOHN ELIOT. - - -During the second half of the sixteenth century and the first half of -the seventeenth, the political and religious energies of Europe were -very largely devoted to the settlement of questions that had been -raised by that great upheaval known as the Protestant Reformation. -On the Continent a reaction had almost everywhere set in. Not only -were the new religious doctrines very generally stifled, but even -those political discontents which seemed to follow as an inseparable -consequence of the religious movement, were put down with a rigorous -hand. The general tendency was toward the establishment of a firmer -absolution both in Church and in State. - -But in England this tendency was arrested. It was the good fortune of -the nation to have a monarch upon the throne who vigorously resisted -every foreign attempt to interfere with English affairs. It was -doubtless the political situation rather than earnestness of religious -conviction that led Elizabeth to make the Church of England independent -of the Church of Rome. But in securing political independence she also -secured the success of the Reformation. Doubtless she was neither -able nor inclined to resist the prevailing tendency toward political -absolutism; but it had been indispensable to her success that she -should enlist in the cause of religious and political independence -all the powers of the nation. However, as soon as independence was -established by the destruction of the Spanish Armada, it became evident -that there was another question to be settled of not less significance. -That question was whether the English Constitution was to be developed -in the direction of its traditional methods, or whether the government -and people should adopt the reactionary methods that were coming to be -so generally accepted on the Continent. It took a century of strife -to answer the question. The struggle did not become earnest during the -reign of Elizabeth, but it cost Charles I. his head, and the Stuart -dynasty its right to the throne. For three generations the kings were -willing to stake every thing in favor of the Continental policy, while -Parliament was equally anxious to maintain the traditional methods. It -was unavoidable that a conflict should ensue; and the Great Revolution -of the seventeenth century was the result. - -James I., during the whole of his reign, showed a disposition to -override whatever principles of the Constitution stood in the way of -his personal power. Charles I. was a man of stronger character than his -father, and he brought to the service of the same purpose a greater -energy and a more determined will. As soon as he ascended the throne -in 1625, it began to look as though a contest would be inevitable -between royal will on the one hand and popular freedom on the other. -The King, determined to rule in his own way, not only questioned the -right of Parliament to inquire into grievances, but even insisted upon -what he regarded as his own right to levy money for the support of -the Government without the consent of Parliament. This determination -Parliament was disposed to question, and in the end to resist. - -Under the maxim of the English Government, that “the King can do no -wrong,” there is but one way of securing redress, in case of an undue -exercise of royal power. As the Constitution presumes that the King -never acts except under advice, his ministers, as his constitutional -advisers, may be held responsible for all his acts. The impeachment of -ministers, therefore, is the constitutional method of redress. It was -the method resorted to in 1626. Articles of Impeachment were brought by -the House of Commons against the King’s Prime Minister and favorite, -the Duke of Buckingham. - -One of the most prominent members of Parliament, and the foremost -orator of the day was Sir John Eliot. This patriot, born in 1590, -and consequently now thirty-six years of age, was appointed by the -Commons one of the managers of the impeachment. With such skill and -vigor did he conduct the prosecution against Buckingham, that the king -determined to put a stop to the impeachment by ordering Eliot’s arrest -and imprisonment. Eliot was thrown into the Tower; but the Commons -regarded the arrest as so flagrant a violation of the rights of members -that they immediately resolved “not to do any more business till they -were righted in their privileges.” The King, in view of this unexpected -evidence of spirit on the part of the Commons, deemed it prudent -to relent. Eliot was discharged; and the Commons, on his triumphal -reappearance in the House, declared by vote “that their managers had -not exceeded the commission entrusted to them.” - -Thus the first triumph in the contest was gained by the Commons. But -the King was not unwilling to resort to even more desperate measures. -He determined to raise money independently of Parliament, and, if -Parliament should continue to pry into the affairs of his minister, to -dispense with Parliament almost or quite altogether. This desperate -determination he undertook to carry out chiefly by the raising of -forced loans and the issuing of monopolies. But here again the King -met with a more strenuous opposition than he had anticipated. Eliot -and Hampden, with some seventy-six other members of the English gentry -refused to make the contribution demanded. As such defiance threatened -to break down the whole system, the King was forced either to resort to -extreme measures or to abandon his method. He resolved upon the former -course, but he was forced to the latter. He threw Eliot and Hampden -into prison; but the outcry of the people was so great and so general -that the necessary money could not be raised, and so he was obliged to -call his third Parliament. Eliot and Hampden, though in prison, were -elected members; and the King, not deeming it prudent to retain them, -ordered their release a few days before the opening of the session. - -The special object for which Parliament had been called by the King -was the granting of money; but the members were in no mood to let the -opportunity pass without securing from the monarch an acknowledgment -of their rights in definite form. Accordingly, they appointed Sir -Edward Coke, the most distinguished lawyer of the time, to draw -up a petition to the King that should embody a declaration of the -constitutional privileges on which they reposed their rights. The -result was the famous “Petition of Right,” an instrument which, in -the history of English liberty, has been only second in importance to -the Great Charter itself. The petition asked the King’s assent to a -number of propositions, the most important of which were that no loan -or tax should be levied without the consent of Parliament; that no -man should be imprisoned except by legal process; and that soldiers -should not be quartered upon the people without the people’s consent. -These propositions introduced nothing new into the Constitution. They -professed simply to ask the King’s approval of principles and methods -that had been acknowledged and acted upon for hundreds of years. The -great significance of the Petition of Right was that it designed to -secure the assent of the monarch to a reign of law instead of a reign -of arbitrary will. The object of Parliament was to put into definite -form a clear expression of the King’s purpose. They desired to know -whether his intention was to rule according to the precedents of the -English Constitution that had been taking definite form for centuries, -or whether, on the contrary, he was determined to build up a system of -absolutism similar to that which was very generally coming to prevail -on the Continent. The petition passed the two Houses and went to the -King for his approval. He gave an evasive answer.[1][A] Parliament was -taken by surprise and seemed likely to be baffled. It was a crisis of -supreme danger. Sir John Eliot was the first to see that if they were -now to thwart the King’s purpose it must be done by availing themselves -immediately of the responsibility of Buckingham. He determined that the -proper course was a remonstrance to the King; and it was in moving this -remonstrance that his great speech was made. - - [A] Numerals inserted in the course of the work refer the reader - to corresponding Illustrative Notes at the end of each volume. - -On hearing the King’s answer, Parliament, in great perplexity and -despondency, immediately adjourned till the next day. When, on the -morning of June 3, 1628, the Commons came together, “the King’s -answer,” says Rushworth, “was read, and seemed too scant, in regard to -so much expense, time, and labor as had been expended in contriving the -petition. Whereupon Sir John Eliot stood up and made a long speech, and -a lively representation of all grievances, both general and particular, -as if they had never before been mentioned.”[2] - -Throughout the speech there is a compactness and an impetuosity truly -remarkable. No one at all familiar with the history and condition -of the time, will fail to see that it was a masterly presentation of -the issues at stake. It is pervaded with a tone of loyalty—even of -affection—toward the King. The argument was founded on the theory -that even under the best of kings, with an irresponsible form of -administration, there can be no security against selfish and ambitious -ministers, and that under any government whatever there can be no -adequate guarantees against such abuses except in the provisions of -law. The orator introduces no grievance personal to himself, though he -had already twice suffered imprisonment for words spoken in debate. His -entire object seems to have been to expose abuses that had oppressed -the people during the ten years under Buckingham’s rule, and to show -how, by means of his duplicity and incompetency, the honor of the -country had been sacrificed, its allies betrayed, and those necessities -of the King created which gave rise to the abuses complained of in the -Petition of Right. - -Aside from the striking oratorical merits of the speech and the -light it throws on the all-important struggles of the time, there -are two circumstances that tend to give it peculiar interest. It is -the earliest parliamentary speech of real importance that has been -preserved to us. The age in which it was delivered is enough to account -for the antique air of the orator’s style—a style, however, which -will be especially relished by all those who have learned to enjoy -the quaint literary flavor of our early masters of English prose. The -other circumstance of especial interest is the fact that soon after the -delivery of the speech, and in consequent of it, Eliot was thrown into -prison, where, after an ignominious confinement and a brutal treatment -of two and a half years, he died a martyr’s death. His earnest plea not -only cost him his life, but it cost him a long period of ignominy that -was far worse than death. But he kept the faith, and calmly underwent -his slow martyrdom. The last word that he sent out from his prison was -an expression of belief that upon the maintenance or the abandonment of -the privileges of Parliament would depend the future glory or misery -of England. By the ability of his advocacy, by the constancy of his -purpose, and by the manner of his death, he fully deserved that the -author of the “Constitutional History of England” should call him, as -he does, “the most illustrious confessor in the cause of liberty whom -that time produced.” - - - - -SIR JOHN ELIOT. - -ON THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND UNDER THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM, DELIVERED IN -THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, JUNE 3, 1628. - - -MR. SPEAKER: - -We sit here as the great council of the King, and, in that capacity -it is our duty to take into consideration the state and affairs of -the kingdom; and, where there is occasion, to give them in a true -representation by way of council and advice, what we conceive necessary -or expedient for them. - -In this consideration, I confess, many a sad thought has frighted me: -and that not only in respect of our dangers from abroad, which yet I -know are great, as they have been often in this place prest and dilated -to us; but in respect of our disorders here at home, which do inforce -those dangers, as by them they were occasioned. - -For I believe I shall make it clear unto you, that as at first the -causes of those dangers were our disorders, our disorders still remain -our greatest dangers. It is not now so much the potency of our enemies, -as the weakness of ourselves, that threatens us; and that saying of the -Father may be assumed by us, _Non tam potentia sua quam negligentia -nostra_. Our want of true devotion to Heaven, our insincerity and -doubling in religion, our want of councils, our precipitate actions, -the insufficiency or unfaithfulness of our generals abroad, the -ignorance or corruption of our ministers at home, the impoverishing -of the sovereign, the oppression and depression of the subject, the -exhausting of our treasures, the waste of our provisions, consumption -of our ships, destruction of our men!—These make the advantage to our -enemies, not the reputation of their arms. And if in these there be not -reformation, we need no foes abroad! Time itself will ruin us. - -You will all hold it necessary that what I am about to urge seem not an -aspersion on the state or imputation on the government, as I have known -such mentions misinterpreted. Far is it from me to purpose this, that -have none but clear thoughts of the excellency of his Majesty, nor can -have other ends but the advancement of his glory. - -To shew what I have said more fully, therefore, I shall desire a little -of your patience extraordinary to open the particulars: which I shall -do with what brevity I may, answerable to the importance of the cause -and the necessities now upon us; yet with such respect and observation -to the time as I hope it shall not be thought too troublesome. - -For the first, then, our insincerity and doubling in religion, the -greatest and most dangerous disorder of all others, which has never -been unpunished, and for which we have so many strange examples of -all states and in all times to awe us,—what testimony does it want? -Will you have authority of books? look on the collections of the -committee for religion, there is too clear an evidence. Will you have -records? see then the commission procured for composition with the -papists in the North? Note the proceedings thereupon. You will find -them to little less amounting than a toleration in effect, though -upon some slight payments; and the easiness in _them_ will likewise -shew the favor that’s intended. Will you have proofs of men? witness -the hopes, witness the presumptions, witness the reports of all the -papists generally. Observe the dispositions of commands, the trust of -officers, the confidence of secrecies of employments, in this kingdom, -in Ireland, and elsewhere. They all will shew it has too great a -certainty. And, to these, add but the incontrovertible evidence of -that all-powerful hand which we have felt so sorely, to give it full -assurance! For as the Heavens oppose themselves to us, it was our -impieties that first opposed the Heavens. - -For the second, our want of councils, that great disorder in a -State with which there cannot be stability,[3] if effects may shew -their causes, as they are often a perfect demonstration of them, -our misfortunes, our disasters, serve to prove it! And (if reason -be allowed in this dark age, by the judgment of dependencies, the -foresight of contingencies, in affairs) the consequences they draw -with them confirm it. For, if we view ourselves at home, are we in -strength, are we in reputation, equal to our ancestors? If we view -ourselves abroad, are our friends as many, are our enemies no more? -Do our friends retain their safety and possessions? Do our enemies -enlarge themselves, and gain from them and us? What council, to the -loss of the Palatinate,[4] sacrificed both our honor and our men sent -thither; stopping those greater powers appointed for that service, by -which it might have been defensible? What council gave directions to -that late action whose wounds lie yet a bleeding? I mean the expedition -unto Rhée,[5] of which there is yet so sad a memory in all men! What -design for us, or advantage to our State, could that work import? You -know the wisdom of our ancestors, the practice of their times; and how -they preserved their safeties! We all know, and have as much cause to -doubt as they had, the greatness and ambition of that kingdom, which -the old world could not satisfy! Against this greatness and ambition -we likewise know the proceedings of that princess, that never to be -forgotten excellence, Queen Elizabeth; whose name, without admiration, -falls not into mention with her enemies. You know how she advanced -herself, how she advanced this kingdom, how she advanced this nation, -in glory and in State; how she depressed her enemies, how she upheld -her friends; how she enjoyed a full security, and made them then our -scorn, who now are made our terror![6] - -Some of the principles she built on, were these; and if I be mistaken, -let reason and our statesmen contradict me. - -First, to maintain, in what she might, a unity in France, that that -kingdom, being at peace within itself, might be a bulwark to keep back -the power of Spain by land. Next, to preserve an amity and league -between that State and us; that so we might join in aid of the Low -Countries, and by that means receive their help and ships by sea. - -Then, that this treble cord, so wrought between France, the States, and -us, might enable us, as occasion should require, to give assistance -unto others; by which means, the experience of that time doth tell us, -we were not only free from those fears that now possess and trouble -us, but then our names were fearful to our enemies. See now what -correspondence our action hath had with this. - -Square it by these rules. It did induce as a necessary consequence the -division in France between the Protestants and their king, of which -there is too woeful, too lamentable an experience. It has made an -absolute breach between that State and us; and so entertains us against -France, France in preparation against us, that we have nothing to -promise to our neighbors, hardly for ourselves. Nay, but observe the -time in which it was attempted, and you shall find it not only varying -from those principles, but directly contrary and opposite _ex diametro_ -to those ends; and such as from the issue and success rather might be -thought _a conception of Spain than begotten here with us_.[B] - - [B] This allusion or insinuation of Eliot’s provoked an - instantaneous uproar. Buckingham had visited the Courts of - Spain and France, and his name had been associated with - discreditable intrigues. In the streets of London there - had been talk of “treasonable correspondence,” and of “a - sacrifice to vanity or passion of the most sacred duties of - patriotism.” When Eliot, therefore, alluded to the act of - England as springing from the “conception of Spain,” he struck - a sensitive spot. The Chancellor, Sir Humphrey May, sprang to - his feet, and exclaimed: “Sir, this is strange language. It is - arraigning the Council.” But a general shout arose demanding - that Eliot should go on. Then the Chancellor said: “If Sir - John Eliot is to go on, I claim permission to go out.” In an - instant, the Sergeant, by order of the House, opened the door, - and, according to testimony of Alured, who was present, “they - all bade him begone! Yet he stayed, and heard Sir John out.” - It is evident from this incident that Eliot had the sympathies - of the House in his firm grasp. When quiet was restored, Sir - John resumed his argument. - -Mr. Speaker, I am sorry for this interruption, but much more sorry if -there have been occasion; wherein, as I shall submit myself wholly to -your judgment to receive what censure you shall give me if I have -offended, so in the integrity of my intentions, and clearness of my -thoughts, I must still retain this confidence, that no greatness may -deter me from the duties which I owe to the service of the country, -the service of the King. With a true English heart, I shall discharge -myself as faithfully and as really, to the extent of my poor powers, as -any man whose honors or whose offices most strictly have obliged him. - -You know the dangers Denmark was then in, and how much they concerned -us; what in respect of our alliance with that country, what in the -importance of the Sound; what an acquisition to our enemies the gain -thereof would be, what loss, what prejudice to us! By this division, -we, breaking upon France, France being engaged by us, and the -Netherlands at amazement between both, neither could intend to aid that -luckless King whose loss is our disaster. - -Can those now, that express their troubles at the hearing of these -things, and have so often told us in this place of their knowledge in -the conjunctures and disjunctures of affairs, say they advised in this? -Was _this_ an act of council, Mr. Speaker? I have more charity than to -think it; and unless they make a confession of themselves, I cannot -believe it.[7] - -What shall I say? I wish there were not cause to mention it; and, but -out of apprehension of the danger that is to come if the like choice -hereafter be not now prevented, I could willingly be silent. But my -duty to my Sovereign and to the service of this House, the safety and -the honor of my country, are above all respects; and what so nearly -trenches to the prejudice of these, may not, shall not, be forborne. - -At Cadiz,[8] then, in that first expedition we made, when they arrived -and found a conquest ready (the Spanish ships, I mean), fit for the -satisfaction of a voyage, and of which some of the chiefs then there -have since themselves assured me the satisfaction would have been -sufficient, either in point of honor, or in point of profit. Why was it -neglected? Why was it not achieved? it being of all hands granted how -feasible it was. - -Afterward, when, with the destruction of some men, and the exposure of -some others (who, though their fortunes have not since been such, then -by chance came off), when, I say, with the losses of our serviceable -men, that unserviceable fort was gained, and the whole army landed, -why was there nothing done, nothing once attempted? If nothing were -intended, wherefore did they land? If there were a service, why were -they shipped again? - -Mr. Speaker, it satisfies me too much in this, when I think of their -dry and hungry march unto that drunken quarter (for so the soldiers -termed it) where was the period of their journey, that divers of our -men being left as a sacrifice to the enemy, that labor was at an end. - -For the next undertaking, at Rhée, I will not trouble you much; only -this in short: Was not that whole action carried against the judgment -and opinion of the officers? those that were of council? Was not -the first, was not the last, was not all, in the landing, in the -intrenching, in the continuance there, in the assault, in the retreat? -Did any advice take place of such as were of the council? If there -should be a particular disquisition thereof, these things would be -manifest, and more. I will not instance now the manifestation that was -made for the reason of these arms; nor by whom, nor in what manner, -nor on what grounds it was published; nor what effects it has wrought, -drawing, as you know, almost all the whole world into league against -us! Nor will I mention the leaving of the mines, the leaving of the -salt, which were in our possession; and of a value as it is said, to -have answered much of our expense. Nor that great wonder, which nor -Alexander nor Cæsar ever did, the enriching of the enemy by courtesies -when the soldiers wanted help! nor the private intercourses and parlies -with the fort, which continually were held. What they intended may -be read in the success, and upon due examination thereof they would -not want the proofs. For the last voyage to Rochelle, there needs no -observation; it is so fresh in memory. Nor will I make an inference or -corollary on all. Your own knowledge shall judge what truth, or what -sufficiency they express. - -For the next, the ignorance or corruption of our ministers, where can -you miss of instances? If you survey the court, if you survey the -country, if the church, if the city be examined; if you observe the -bar, if the bench; if the courts, if the shipping; if the land, if the -seas; all these will render you variety of proofs. And in such measure -and proportion as shows the greatness of our sickness, that if it have -not some speedy application for remedy, our case is most desperate. - -Mr. Speaker, I fear I have been too long in these particulars that are -past, and am unwilling to offend you; therefore in the rest I shall be -shorter. And in that which concerns the impoverishing of the King, no -other arguments will I use than such as all men grant. - -The exchequer you know is empty, the reputation thereof gone! The -ancient lands are sold, the jewels pawned, the plate engaged, the debt -still great, and almost all charges, both ordinary and extraordinary, -borne by projects! What poverty can be greater? What necessity so -great? What perfect English heart is not almost dissolved into sorrow -for the truth? - -For the oppression of the subject, which, as I remember, is the next -particular I proposed, it needs no demonstration. The whole kingdom -is a proof. And for the exhausting of our treasures, that oppression -speaks it. What waste of our provisions, what consumption of our -ships, what destruction of our men, have been,—witness the journey to -Algiers![9] Witness that with Mansfield! Witness that to Cadiz! Witness -the next! Witness that to Rhée! Witness the last! (And I pray God we -may never have more such witnesses.) Witness likewise the Palatinate! -Witness Denmark! Witness the Turks! Witness the Dunkirkers! _Witness -all!_ What losses we have sustained! How we are impaired in munition, -in ships, in men! It has no contradiction! We were never so much -weakened, nor had less hope how to be restored! - -These, Mr. Speaker, are our dangers; these are they do threaten us, and -are like that Trojan horse brought in cunningly to surprise us! For in -these do lurk the strongest of our enemies ready to issue on us; and -if we do not now the more speedily expel them, these will be the sign -and invitation to the others. They will prepare such entrance that we -shall have no means left of refuge or defence; for if we have these -enemies at home, how can we strive with those that are abroad? But if -we be free from these, no others can impeach us! Our ancient English -virtue, that old Spartan valor, cleared from these disorders; being in -sincerity of religion once made friends with Heaven; having maturity of -councils, sufficiency of generals, incorruption of officers, opulency -in the king, liberty in the people, repletion in treasures, restitution -of provisions, reparation of ships, preservation of men—our ancient -English virtue, I say thus rectified, will secure us. - -But unless there be a speedy reformation in these, I know not what -hope or expectation we may have. - -These things, sir, I shall desire to have taken into consideration. -That as we are the great council of the kingdom, and have the -apprehension of these dangers, we may truly represent them to the King; -wherein I conceive we are bound by a treble obligation of duty unto -God, of duty to his Majesty, and of duty to our country. - -And therefore I wish it may so stand with the wisdom and judgment of -the house, that they may be drawn into the body of a _Remonstrance_, -and there with all humility expressed; with a prayer unto his Majesty, -that for the safety of himself, for the safety of the kingdom, for -the safety of religion, he will be pleased to give us time to make -perfect inquisition thereof; or to take them into his own wisdom and -there give them such timely reformation as the necessity of the cause, -and his justice do import. And thus, sir, with a large affection and -loyalty to his Majesty, and with a firm duty and service to my country, -I have suddenly, and it may be with some disorder, expressed the weak -apprehensions I have, wherein if I have erred, I humbly crave your -pardon, and so submit it to the censure of the House. - - - - -JOHN PYM. - - -When the English Parliament of 1628 came together, the King told -them: “If you do not your duty, mine would then order me to use -those other means which God has put into my hand.” Charles’s notion -of Parliamentary duty was simply that the members should vote -necessary supplies, and then leave the expenditures to the royal will. -Parliament, however, insisted upon some assurances that abuses would -not be repeated. The Petition of Right, as we saw in our account of -Eliot, was the result. Though the King was obliged to give his assent -to the petition, it soon became evident that he had no intention -to carry out its provisions either in the letter or in the spirit. -The liberal supplies granted by Parliament after the signing of the -petition were soon exhausted. Every expedient of economy was resorted -to in order to avoid the necessity of calling another Parliament. - -At first there was perhaps no clearly defined purpose to cause any -positive breach of constitutional obligation, but gradually the -government drifted into a policy of the most flagrant oppression. No -Parliament was called for eleven years. The powers of the prerogative -were strained at every point. Knighthood was forced on the gentry in -order that large sums might be extorted as the price of composition. -Enormous fines were levied for removing defects in title deeds. Large -sums were exacted of landowners for encroachments on the crown lands. -London, in consequence of its open sympathy with the Parliamentary -cause, became a special object of royal dislike. An edict was issued -prohibiting the enlargement of the metropolis; and large districts in -the suburbs were saved from demolition only by the payment of three -years’ rental to the royal treasury. The powers of the Court of Star -Chamber were applied to the trying of causes on the simple information -of the King’s attorney, and the court was authorized to adjudge any -punishment short of death. Under its jurisdiction enormous fines -were levied for the most trifling offences. A simple brawl between -two wealthy lords had to be atoned for by the payment of £5,000, -and more than twice that sum was exacted of a gentleman as a fine -for contracting marriage with his niece. Monopolies, which had been -formally abandoned both by Elizabeth and by James, were now revived -in direct and open violation of the Petition of Right, in order that -large sums might be realized from the persons receiving the privileges -bestowed by the concession. Nearly every article of domestic necessity -had to be procured directly or indirectly from some monopolist; and, -consequently, the expense of living was very greatly increased. Customs -duties were levied just as if they had been voted by Parliament, and -after a time writs were issued for a general levy of benevolences from -the shires. Thus, one by one, even the most flagrant of the abuses -he had promised to abolish, were resorted to without hesitation and -without scruple. - -Not less flagrant were the abuses of a religious nature. The Commons, -in the last moments of the session of 1629, had resolved that “whoever -should bring in innovations in religion,” as well as “whoever advised -the levy of subsidies not granted in Parliament,” was to be regarded -as “a capital enemy of the kingdom and commonwealth.” And yet it -was to “bring in innovations in religion” that the energies of the -English church were now chiefly directed. At the head of the church -was Archbishop Laud, whose determination was “to raise the Church of -England to what he conceived to be its real position as a branch, -though a reformed branch, of the great Catholic church throughout -the world.” He protested alike against the innovations of Rome and -the innovations of Calvin. In his view the Episcopal succession was -the essence of the church; and, therefore, when the Lutheran and -Calvanistic churches rejected the office of Bishop, they “ceased to be -churches at all.” As he rejected the church of the reformers, and as he -acknowledged Rome as a true branch of the church, he drew constantly -nearer to Rome, and removed further and further from the doctrines -of the Reformers. In all parts of England ministers who refused to -conform were expelled from their cures. It was this aggressive and -revolutionary policy that drove thousands of Puritans to New England. -Three thousand emigrants left England in a single year; and during -the period between 1629 and 1640 no less than about twenty thousand -Puritans found a refuge in the New World. - -In Scotland resistance to the innovations of Laud took a more active -turn. Royal proclamation had been made, reinstating the Episcopal -forms; but when the Dean of Edinburgh opened the new Prayer Book, a -murmur of discontent ran through the congregation, and a stool, hurled -by one of the members, felled him to the ground. Petitions for the -removal of the Prayer Book were showered in upon the court. Various -writers were dragged before the Star Chamber and branded as “trumpets -of sedition.” To a petition presented by the Duke of Hamilton the -King replied: “I will rather die than yield to these impertinent and -damnable demands.” Of these seething discontents, what is sometimes -called the “Bishops’ War” was the result. The King was determined -to suppress opposition by force of arms, and for that purpose he -committed the fatal error of calling over Strafford from Ireland. -Scotland at once arose to resist him, while at his back all England was -at the point of revolt. A London mob burst into the Bishop’s palace -at Lambeth, and then proceeded to break up the sittings of the High -Commission at St. Paul’s. Charles, finding the army in no condition -to cope with the discontents of the time, at length, with great -reluctance, yielded to his advisers, and once more summoned the Houses -of Parliament. - -In April of 1640, the newly-elected members came together. During the -eleven years that had elapsed since the dismissal of the Parliament -of 1629, many of the old leaders had passed away. Sir Edward Coke and -Sir Robert Philips were dead, and Eliot had perished as a martyr in -prison. But in the meantime a new leader had appeared. By the consent -of all, that distinction was now held by John Pym. This gentleman, -now fifty-four years of age, had been the companion of Eliot in the -third Parliament of Charles, and, next to Eliot and Wentworth, had -been acknowledged the most effective speaker in that body. But in the -course of the past eleven years his talents and his energy had caused -him everywhere to be hailed as the popular leader. He was a gentleman -of good family, a graduate of Oxford, and an Episcopalian in religion. -His influence was probably all the greater because he did not belong -to the extreme party. We are told that he was no fanatic, that he was -genial and even convivial in his nature. He has been called by Mr. -Forster the first great popular organizer in English politics. In -company with Hampden he rode through several of the English counties, -as Anthony Wood states, “with a view of promoting elections of the -puritanical brethren.” He urged the people to meet and send petitions -to Parliament, and by him the custom of petitioning was first organized -into a system. When the new House of Commons was called to order every -one looked to Pym as by a common instinct for guidance. - -The speech with which Pym responded to this expectation is doubtless -one of the most remarkable in the history of British eloquence. It -abounds in passages which, for weight of argument and closeness of -reasoning, remind one of the compositions of Lord Bacon. Throughout the -whole there is a precision of statement, and a gravity of manner that -show plainly enough that he was not unconscious of the responsibility -that rested upon him. The speech has been a matter of general comment -with all the historians of the period, for there is abundant evidence -of its extraordinary influence on Parliament and on the people of -England. And yet, until within a few years, no complete copy of it was -known to be in existence. Several mutilated versions were published -in the seventeenth century, but these conveyed a very imperfect -impression of its power. Mr. May, the historian of the Long Parliament -says that “Mr. Pym, a grave and religious gentleman, in a long speech -of almost two hours, recited a catalogue of grievances which at that -time lay heavy on the commonwealth, of which many abbreviated copies, -as extracting the heads only, were with great greediness taken by -gentleman and others throughout the kingdom, for it was not then the -fashion to print speeches in Parliament.” These “abbreviated copies” -“of heads only,” were until recently supposed to be the only reports of -the speech in existence. But Mr. Forster, when writing his Life of Pym, -was led to institute a careful search among the world of papers in the -British Museum; and his effort was rewarded with success. He discovered -a report of the speech with corrections by Pym’s own hand. This -version, corrected by the orator himself, is the one here reproduced. -It is somewhat abridged by Mr. Forster; and the report given in the -third person is preserved. In unabbreviated form it has never been -published. - - - - -JOHN PYM. - -ON THE SUBJECT OF GRIEVANCES IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES I. HOUSE OF -COMMONS. APRIL 5, 1640. - - - After an interval of eleven years since the dissolution of the Third - Parliament of Charles I., the Fourth or Short Parliament was opened - by the King on the 3d of April, 1640. In his opening speech, Charles - simply said: “My Lords and Gentlemen: There never was a king that - had a more great and weighty cause to call his people together than - myself: I will not trouble you with the particulars. I have informed - my Lord Keeper, and command him to speak, and desire your attention.” - After this short and ungracious declaration, the Lord Keeper - proceeded to speak in a very lofty and absurd strain in regard to the - Royal Prerogative, and ending with the admonition, “that his Majesty - did not expect advice from them, much less that they should interfere - in any office of mediation, which would not be grateful to him: but - that they should, as soon as might be, give his Majesty a supply, - and that he would give them time enough afterwards to represent - grievances to him.” - - Two days later, as soon as Parliament assembled, a number of - petitions were presented, “complaining of ship-money projects and - monopolies, the star-chamber and high-commission courts and other - grievances.” Between the consideration of these petitions and - deference to the King’s request to grant supplies at once, there was - a hesitation; and it was of this sense of “divided duty” that Pym - determined to avail himself. Clarendon says: “Whilst men gazed upon - each other, looking who should begin (much the greater part having - never before sat in Parliament) Mr. Pym, a man of good reputation, - but much better known afterwards, who had been as long in these - assemblies as any man then living, broke the ice, and in a set - discourse of about two hours,” addressed the House. - - -Never Parliament had greater business to dispatch, nor more -difficulties to encounter; therefore we have reason to take all -advantages of order and address, and hereby we shall not only do our -own work, but dispose and inable ourselves for the better satisfaction -of his Majesty’s desire of supply. The grievances being removed, our -affections will carry us with speed and cheerfulness, to give his -Majesty that which may be sufficient both for his honor and support. -Those that in the very first place shall endeavor to redress the -grievances, will be found not to hinder, but to be the best furtherers -of his Majesty’s service. He that takes away weights, doth as much -advantage motion, as he that addeth wings. Divers pieces of this main -work have been already propounded; his endeavor should be to present -to the House a model of the whole. In the creation, God made the -world according to that idea or form which was eternally preëxistent -in the Divine mind. Moses was commanded to frame the tabernacle after -the pattern showed him in the mount. Those actions are seldom well -perfected in the execution, which are not first well moulded in the -design and proposition. - -He said he would labor to contract those manifold affairs both of -the Church and State, which did so earnestly require the wisdom and -faithfulness of this House, into a double method of grievances and -cures. And because there wanted not some who pretended that these -things, wherewith the commonwealth is now grieved, are much for the -advantage of the King, and that the redress of them will be to his -Majesty’s great disadvantage and loss, he doubted not but to make it -appear, that in discovering the present great distempers and disorders, -and procuring remedy for them, we should be no less serviceable to -his Majesty, who hath summoned us to this great council than useful -to those whom we do here represent. For the better effecting whereof, -he propounded three main branches of his discourse. In the first, he -would offer them the several heads of some principal grievances, under -which the kingdom groaned. In the second, he undertook to prove that -the disorders from whence those grievances issued, were as hurtful to -the King as to the people. In the third, he would advise such a way of -healing, and removing those grievances, as might be equally effectual -to maintain the honor and greatness of the King, and to procure the -prosperity and contentment of the people. - -In the handling whereof he promised to use such expressions as might -mitigate the sharpness and bitterness of those things whereof he was -to speak, so far as his duty and faithfulness would allow. It is a -great prerogative to the King, and a great honor attributed to him, -in a maxim of our law, that he can do no wrong; he is the fountain -of justice; and, if there be any injustice in the execution of his -commands, the law casts it upon the ministers, and frees the King. - -Activity, life, and vigor are conveyed into the sublunary creatures by -the influence of heaven; but the malignity and distemper, the cause -of so many epidemical diseases, do proceed from the noisome vapors of -the earth, or some ill-affected qualities of the air, without any -infection or alteration of those pure, celestial, and incorruptible -bodies. In the like manner, he said, the authority, the power, and -countenance of princes, may concur in the actions of evil men, without -partaking in the injustice and obliquity of them. These matters whereof -we complain, have been presented to his Majesty, either under the -pretence of royal prerogatives, which he is bound to maintain, or of -public good, which is the most honorable object of regal wisdom. But -the covetous and ambitious designs of others have interposed betwixt -his royal intentions and the happiness of his people, making those -things pernicious and hurtful, which his Majesty apprehended as just -and profitable. - -He said, the things which he was to propound were of a various -nature, many of them such as required a very tender and exquisite -consideration. In handling of which, as he would be bold to use the -liberty of the place and relation wherein he stood, so he would be very -careful to express that modesty and humility which might be expected -by those of whose actions he was to speak. And if his judgment or his -tongue should slip into any particular mistake, he would not think it -so great a shame to fail by his own weakness as he should esteem it -an honor and advantage to be corrected by the wisdom of that House to -which he submitted himself, with this protestation, that he desired no -reformation as much as to reform himself. - -The greatest liberty of the kingdom is religion; thereby we are freed -from spiritual evils, and no impositions are so grievous as those that -are laid upon the soul. - -The next great liberty is justice, whereby we are preserved from -injuries in our persons and estates; from this is derived into -the commonwealth, peace, and order, and safety; and when this is -interrupted, confusion and danger are ready to overwhelm all. - -The third great liberty consists in the power and privilege of -parliaments; for this is the fountain of law, the great council of the -kingdom, the highest court; this is inabled by the legislative and -conciliary power, to prevent evils to come; by the judiciary power, to -suppress and remove evils present. If you consider these three great -liberties in the order of dignity, this last is inferior to the other -two, as means are inferior to the end; but, if you consider them in -the order of necessity and use, this may justly claim the first place -in our care, because the end cannot be obtained without the means: and -if we do not preserve this, we cannot long hope to enjoy either of the -others. Therefore being to speak of those grievances which lie upon the -kingdom, he would observe this order. - -1. To mention those which were against the privilege of parliaments. -2. Those which were prejudicial to the religion established in the -kingdom. 3. Those which did interrupt the justice of the realm in the -liberty of our persons and propriety of our estates. - -The privileges of Parliament were not given for the ornament or -advantage of those who are the members of Parliament.[10] They have a -real use and efficacy toward that which is the end of parliaments. We -are free from suits that we may the more entirely addict ourselves to -the public services; we have, therefore, liberty of speech, that our -counsels may not be corrupted with fear, or our judgments perverted -with self respects. Those three great faculties and functions of -Parliament, the legislative, judiciary, and conciliary power,[11] -cannot be well exercised without such privileges as these. The wisdom -of our laws, the faithfulness of our counsels, the righteousness of -our judgments, can hardly be kept pure and untainted if they proceed -from distracted and restrained minds. - -It is a good rule of the moral philosopher,—_Et non lædas mentem -gubernatricem omnium actionum_. These powers of Parliament are to the -body politic as the rational faculties of the soul to a man; that which -keeps all the parts of the commonwealth in frame and temper, ought -to be most carefully preserved in that freedom, vigor, and activity, -which belongs to itself. Our predecessors in this House have ever been -most careful in the first place to settle and secure their privileges; -and he hoped, that we, having had greater breaches made upon us than -heretofore, would be no less tender of them, and forward in seeking -reparation for that which is past, and prevention of the like for the -time to come. - -Then he propounded divers particular points wherein the privileges of -Parliament had been broken. First, in restraining the members of the -House from speaking. Secondly, in forbidding the Speaker to put any -question. - -These two were practiced the last day of the last Parliament (and, -as was alleged, by his Majesty’s command); and both of them trench -upon the very life and being of parliaments; for if such a restraining -power as this should take root, and be admitted, it will be impossible -for us to bring any resolution to perfection in such matters as shall -displease those about the King.[12] - -Thirdly, by imprisoning divers members of the House, for matters done -in Parliament. Fourthly, by indictments, informations, and judgments -in ordinary and inferior courts, for speeches and proceedings in -parliaments. Fifthly, by the disgraceful order of the King’s bench, -whereby some members of this House were enjoined to put in security of -their good behaviour; and for refusal thereof, were continued in prison -divers years, without any particular allegation against them. One of -them was freed by death. Others were not dismissed till his Majesty -had declared his intention to summon the present Parliament. And this -he noted not only as a breach of privilege, but as a violation of -the common justice of the kingdom. Sixthly, by the sudden and abrupt -dissolution of parliaments, contrary to the law and custom. - -Often hath it been declared in parliaments, that the Parliament should -not be dissolved, till the petitions be answered. This (he said) -was a great grievance because it doth prevent the redress of other -grievances. It were a hard case that a private man should be put to -death without being heard. As this representative body of the Commons -receives a being by the summons, so it receives a civil death by the -dissolution. Is it not a much more heavy doom by which we lose our -being, to have this civil death inflicted on us in displeasure, and -not to be allowed time and liberty to answer for ourselves? That we -should not only die, but have this mark of infamy laid upon us? to -be made intestabiles, disabled to make our wills, to dispose of our -business, as this House hath always used to do before adjournments -or dissolutions? Yet this hath often been our case! We have not been -permitted to pour out our last sighs and groans into the bosom of our -dear sovereign. The words of dying men are full of piercing affections; -if we might be heard to speak, no doubt we should so fully express -our love and faithfulness to our prince, as might take off the false -suggestions and aspersions of others; at least we should in our humble -supplications recommend some such things to him in the name of his -people, as would make for his own honor, and the public good of his -kingdom. - -Thus he concluded the first sort of grievances, being such as were -against the privilege of Parliament, and passed on to the next, -concerning religion; all which he conveyed under these four heads. -The first, was the great encouragement given to popery, of which he -produced these particular evidences. 1. A suspension of all laws -against papists, whereby they enjoy a free and almost public exercise -of that religion. Those good statutes which were made for restraint of -idolatry and superstition, are now a ground of security to them in the -practice of both; being used to no other end but to get money into the -King’s purse; which as it is clearly against the intentions of the law, -so it is full of mischief to the kingdom. By this means a dangerous -party is cherished and increased, who are ready to close with any -opportunity of disturbing the peace and safety of the State. Yet he did -not desire any new laws against popery, or any rigorous courses in the -execution of those already in force; he was far from seeking the ruin -of their persons or estates; only he wished they might be kept in such -a condition as should restrain them from doing hurt.[13] - -It may be objected, there are moderate and discreet men amongst them, -men of estates, such as have an interest in the peace and prosperity of -the kingdom as well as we. These (he said) were not to be considered -according to their own disposition, but according to the nature of the -body whereof they are parties. The planets have several and particular -motions of their own, yet they are all rapt and transported into a -contrary course by the superior orb which comprehends them all. The -principles of popery are such as are incompatible with any other -religion. There may be a suspension of violence for some by certain -respects; but the ultimate end even of that moderation is, that they -may with more advantage extirpate that which is opposite to them. Laws -will not restrain them. Oaths will not. The Pope can dispense with both -these, and where there is occasion, his command will move them to the -disturbance of the realm—against their own private disposition—yea, -against their own reason and judgement—to obey him; to whom they have -(especially the Jesuitical party) absolutely and entirely obliged -themselves, not only in spiritual matters, but in temporal, as they are -in order _ad spiritualia_. Henry III. and Henry IV. of France were -no Protestants themselves, yet were murthered because they tolerated -Protestants. The King and the kingdom can have no security but in their -weakness and disability to do hurt. - -2. A second encouragement is, their admission into places of power -and trust in the Commonwealth, whereby they get many dependents and -adherents, not only of their own, but even of such as make profession -to be Protestants. - -3. A third, their freedom of resorting to London and the court, whereby -they have opportunity, not only of communicating their counsels and -designs, one to another, but of diving into his Majesty’s counsels, -by the frequent access of those who are active men amongst them, to -the tables and company of great men; and under subtle pretences and -disguises they want not means of cherishing their own projects, and of -endeavoring to mould and bias the public affairs to the great advantage -of that party. - -4. A fourth, that as they have a congregation of cardinals at Rome, -to consider of the aptest ways and means of establishing the Pope’s -authority and religion in England, so they have a nuncio here, to act -and dispose that party to the execution of those counsels, and, by -the assistance of such cunning and Jesuitical spirits as swarm in this -town, to order and manage all actions and events, to the furtherance of -that main end.[14] - -The second grievance of religion, was from those manifold innovations -lately introduced into several parts of the kingdom, all inclining to -popery, and disposing and fitting men to entertain it. The particulars -were these: 1. Divers of the chiefest points of religion in difference -betwixt us and the papists have been publicly defended, in licensed -books, in sermons, in university acts and disputations. 2. Divers -popish ceremonies have been not only practised but countenanced, yea, -little less than enjoined, as altars, images, crucifixes, bowings, and -other gestures and observances, which put upon our churches a shape and -face of popery. He compared this to the dry bones in Ezekiel. First, -they came together; then the sinews and the flesh came upon them; after -this the skin covered them; and then breath and life was put into them! -So (he said) after these men had moulded us into an outward form and -visage of popery, they would more boldly endeavor to breathe into us -the spirit of life and popery. - -The third grievance was the countenancing and preferring those men who -were most forward in setting up such innovations; the particulars were -so well known that they needed not to be named.[15] - -The fourth was, the discouragement of those who were known to be most -conscionable and faithful professors of the truth. Some of the ways of -effecting this he observed to be these: 1. The courses taken to enforce -and enlarge those unhappy differences, for matters of small moment, -which have been amongst ourselves, and to raise up new occasions of -further division, whereby many have been induced to forsake the land, -not seeing the end of those voluntary and human injunctions in things -appertaining to God’s worship. Those who are indeed lovers of religion, -and of the churches of God, would seek to make up those breaches, -and to unite us more entirely against the common enemy. 2. The over -rigid prosecution of those who are scrupulous in using some things -enjoined, which are held by those who enjoin them, to be in themselves -indifferent. It hath been ever the desire of this House, expressed in -many parliaments in Queen Elizabeth’s time and since, that such might -be tenderly used. It was one of our petitions delivered at Oxford to -his Majesty that now is; but what little moderation it hath produced is -not unknown to us all! Any other vice almost may be better endured in a -minister than inconformity. 3. The unjust punishments and vexations of -sundry persons for matters required without any warrant of law: as, for -not reading the book concerning recreation on the Lord’s day[16]; for -not removing the communion table to be set altarwise at the east end of -the chancel; for not coming up to the rails to receive the sacrament; -for preaching the Lord’s day in the afternoon; for catechising in any -other words and manner than in the precise words of the short catechism -in the common prayer-book. - -The fifth and last grievance concerning religion, was the encroachment -and abuse of ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The particulars mentioned -were these: 1. Fining and imprisoning in cases not allowed by law. 2. -The challenging their jurisdiction to be appropriate to their order, -which they allege to be _jure divino_. 3. The contriving and publishing -of new articles, upon which they force the churchwardens to take oaths, -and to make inquiries and presentments, as if such articles had the -force of canons; and this was an effect of great presumption and -boldness, not only in the bishops, but in the archdeacons, officials, -and chancellors, taking upon themselves a kind of synodal authority. -The injunctions of this kind might, indeed, well partake in name with -that part of the common law which is called the extravagants! - -Having despatched these several points, he proceeded to the third -kind of grievances, being such as are against the common justice -of the realm, in the liberty of our persons, and propriety of our -estates, of which he had many to propound: in doing whereof, he would -rather observe the order of time, wherein they were acted, than of -consequence; but when he should come to the cure, he should then -persuade the House to begin with those which were of most importance, -as being now in execution, and very much pressing and exhausting the -commonwealth. - -He began with the tonnage and poundage and other impositions not -warranted by law; and because these burdens had long lain upon us, and -the principles which produced them are the same from whence divers -others are derived, he thought it necessary to premise a short -narrative and relation of the grounds and proceedings of the power of -imposing herein practised.[17] It was a fundamental truth, essential to -the constitution and government of this kingdom—an hereditary liberty -and privilege of all the freeborn subjects of the land—that no tax, -tallage, or other charge might be laid upon us, without common consent -in Parliament. This was acknowledged by the Conquerro; ratified in -that contract which he made with this nation, upon his admittance to -the kingdom; declared and confirmed in the laws which he published. -This hath never been denied by any of our kings—though broken and -interrupted by some of them, especially by King John and Henry III. -Then, again, it was confirmed by Mag. Chart., and other succeeding -laws; yet not so well settled but that it was sometime attempted by -the two succeeding Edwards, in whose times the subjects were very -sensible of all the breaches made upon the common liberty, and, by -the opportunity of frequent parliaments, pursued them with fresh -complaints, and for the most part found redress, and procured the right -of the subject to be fortified by new statutes. - -He observed that those kings, even in the acts whereby they did -break the law, did really affirm the subject’s liberty, and disclaim -that right of imposing which is now challenged: for they did usually -procure the merchants’ consent to such taxes as were laid, thereby -to put a color of justice upon their proceeding; and ordinarily they -were limited to a short time, and then propounded to the ratification -of the Parliament, where they were cancelled or confirmed, as the -necessity and state of the kingdom did require. But for the most part -such charges upon merchandise were taken by authority of Parliament, -and granted for some short time, in a greater or lesser proportion, as -was requisite for supply of the public occasions—six or twelve in the -pound, for one, two or three years, as they saw cause to be employed -for the defence of the sea: and it was acknowledged so clearly to be -in the power of Parliament, that they have sometimes been granted to -noblemen, and sometimes to merchants, to be disposed for that use. -Afterward they were granted to the King for life, and so continued for -divers descents, yet still as a gift and grant of the Commons. - -Betwixt the time of Edward III. and Queen Mary, never prince (that -he could remember) offered to demand any imposition but by grant in -Parliament. Queen Mary laid a charge upon cloth, by the equity of the -statute of tonnage and poundage, because the rate set upon wool was -much more than upon cloth; and, there being little wool carried out -of the kingdom unwrought, the Queen thought she had reason to lay on -somewhat more; yet not full so much as brought them to an equality, but -that still there continued a less charge upon wool wrought into cloth, -than upon wool carried out unwrought; until King James’ time when upon -Nicholson’s project, there was a further addition of charge, but still -upon pretence of the statute, which is that we call the pretermitted -custom. - -In Queen Elizabeth’s time, it is true, one or two little impositions -crept in, the general prosperity of her reign overshadowing small -errors and innovations. One of these was upon currants, by occasion of -the merchants’ complaints that the Venetians had laid a charge upon -the English cloth, that so we might be even with them, and force them -the sooner to take it off. But this being demanded by King James, was -denied by one Bates, a merchant, and upon a suit in the exchequer, -was adjudged for the King. Now the manner of that judgment was thus: -There were then but three judges in that court, all differing from one -another in the grounds of their sentences. The first was of opinion, -the King might impose upon such commodities as were foreign and -superfluous, as currants were, but not upon such as were native and to -be transported, or necessary, and to be imported for the use of the -kingdom. The second judge was of opinion, he might impose upon all -foreign merchandise, whether superfluous or no, but not upon native. -The third, that for as much as the King had the custody of the ports, -and the guard of the seas, and that he might open and shut up the ports -as he pleased, he had a prerogative to impose upon all merchandise, -both exported and imported. Yet this single, distracted, and divided -judgment, is the foundation of all the impositions now in practice; -for, after this, King James laid new charges upon all commodities -outward and inward, not limited to a certain time and occasion, but -reserved to himself, his heirs and successors, forever,—the first -impositions in fee-simple that were ever heard of in this kingdom. This -judgment, and the right of imposing thereupon assumed, was questioned -in septimo and duodecimo[18] of that king, and was the cause of the -breach of both those parliaments. In 18 and 21 Jacobi, indeed, it was -not agitated by this House, but only that they might preserve the -favor of the king, for the despatch of some other great businesses, -upon which they were more especially attentive.[19] But in the first -of his present Majesty, it necessarily came to be remembered, upon -the proposition on the King’s part, for renewing the bill of tonnage -and poundage; yet so moderate was that Parliament, that they thought -rather to confirm the impositions already set by a law to be made, -than to abolish them by a judgment in Parliament; but that and divers -ensuing parliaments have been unhappily broken, before that endeavor -could be accomplished: only at the last meeting a remonstrance was -made concerning the liberty of the subject in this point; and it hath -always been expressed to be the meaning of the House, and so it was -(as he said) his own meaning in the proposition now made, to settle -and restore the right according to law, and not to diminish the king’s -profit, but to establish it by a free grant in Parliament. - -However, since the breach of the last Parliament, his majesty hath, by -a new book of rates, very much increased the burden upon merchandise, -and now tonnage and poundage, old and new impositions, are all taken -by prerogative, without any grant in Parliament, or authority of law, -as we conceive; from whence divers inconveniences and mischiefs are -produced. 1. The danger of the precedent, that a judgment in one court, -and in one case, is made binding to all the kingdom. 2. Men’s goods -are seized, their legal suits are stopped, and justice denied to those -that desire to take the benefit of the law. 3. The great sums of money -received upon these impositions, intended for the guard of the seas, -claimed and defended upon no ground but of public trust, for protection -of merchants and defence of the ports, are dispersed to other uses, -and a new tax raised for the same purposes. 4. These burdens are so -excessive, that trade is thereby very much hindered, the commodities -of our own growth extremely abased, and those imported much enhanced; -all which lies not upon the merchant alone, but upon the generality -of the subject; and by this means the stock of the kingdom is much -diminished, our exportation being less profitable, and our importation -more changeable. And if the wars and troubles in the neighbor parts -had not brought almost the whole stream of trade into this kingdom, we -should have found many more prejudical effects of these impositions, -long before this time, than yet we have done. Especially they have been -insupportable to the poor plantations, whither many of his Majesty’s -subjects have been transported, in divers parts of the continent and -islands of America, in furtherance of a design tending to the honor -of the kingdom, and the enlargement of his Majesty’s dominions. The -adventurers in this noble work have for the most part no other support -but tobacco, upon which such a heavy rate is set, that the King -receives twice as much as the true value of the commodity to the owner. -5. Whereas these great burdens have caused divers merchants to apply -themselves to a way of traffic abroad by transporting goods from one -country to another, without bringing them home into England. But now -it hath been lately endeavored to set an imposition upon this trade, -so that the King will have a duty even out of those commodities which -never come within his dominions, to the great discouragement of such -active and industrious men. - -The next general head of civil grievances, was enforcing men to -compound for knighthood; which though it may seem past, because it is -divers years since it was used, yet upon the same grounds the King may -renew it, as often as he pleaseth, for the composition looks backward, -and the offence continuing, is subject to a new fine. The state of -that business he laid down thus: Heretofore, when the services due by -tenure were taken in kind, it were fit there were some way of trial -and approbation of those that were bound to such services. Therefore, -it was ordained, that such as were to do knight’s services, after -they came of age, and had possession of their lands, should be made -knights; that is, publicly declared to be fit for that service:—divers -ceremonies and solemnities were in use for this purpose; and if by the -party’s neglect this was not done, he was punishable by fine; there -being in those times an ordinary and open way to get knighthood, for -those who were born to it. Now it is quite true, that although the -use of this hath for divers ages been discontinued, yet there have -passed very few kings under whom there hath not been a general summons, -requiring those who had lands of such value as the law prescribes, -to appear at the coronation, or some other great solemnity, and to be -knighted, and yet nothing intended but the getting of some small fines. -So this grievance is not altogether new in the kind; but it is new -in the manner, and in the excess of it, and that in divers respects. -1. First, it hath been extended beyond all intention and color of -law. Not only inn-holders, but likewise leaseholders, copyholders, -merchants, and others; scarce any man free from it. 2. The fines have -been immoderate, far beyond the proportion of former times.[20] 3. The -proportion has been without any example, precedent, or rule of justice. -For though those that were summoned did appear, yet distresses infinite -were made out against them, and issues increased and multiplied, and no -way open to discharge those issues, by plea or otherwise, but only by -compounding with the commissioners at their own pleasure. - -The third general head of civil grievances was, the great inundation of -monopolies: whereby heavy burthens are laid, not only upon foreign, but -also native commodities. These began in the soap patent. The principal -undertakers in this were divers Popish recusants, men of estate and -quality, such as in likelihood did not only aim at their private gain, -but that by this open breach of law, the King and his people might be -more fully divided, and the ways of Parliament men more thoroughly -obstructed. Amongst the infinite inconveniences and mischiefs which -this did produce, these few may be observed: 1. The impairing the -goodness, and enhancing the price of most of the commodities and -manufactures of the realm, yea, of those which are of most necessary -and common use, as salt, soap, beer, coals, and infinite others. 2. -That, under color of licenses, trades and manufactures are restrained -to a few hands, and many of the subjects deprived of their ordinary -way of livelihood. 3. That, upon such illegal grants, a great number -of persons had been unjustly vexed by pursuivants, imprisonments, -attendance upon the council table, forfeiture of goods, and many other -ways. - -The fourth head of civil grievances was that great and unparalleled -grievance of the ship money, which, though it may seem to have more -warrant of law than the rest, because there hath a judgment passed for -it, yet in truth it is thereby aggravated, if it be considered that -the judgment is founded upon the naked opinion of some judges without -any written law, without any custom, or authority of law books, -yea, without any one precedent for it.[21] Many express laws, many -declarations in parliaments, and the constant practice and judgment -at all times being against it! Yea, in the very nature of it, it will -be found to be disproportionable to the case of “necessity” which is -pretended to be the ground of it! Necessity excludes all formalities -and solemnities. It is no time then to make levies and taxes to build -and prepare ships. Every man’s person, every man’s ships are to be -employed for the resisting of an invading enemy. The right on the -subject’s part was so clear, and the pretences against it so weak, that -he thought no man would venture his reputation or conscience in the -defence of that judgment, being so contrary to the grounds of the law, -to the practice of former times, and so inconsistent in itself. - -Amongst many inconveniences and obliquities of this grievance, he -noted these: 1. That it extendeth to all persons, and to all times; it -subjecteth our goods to distress, and our persons to imprisonment; and, -the causes of it being secret and invisible, referred to his Majesty’s -breast alone, the subject was left without possibility of exception -and relief. 2. That there were no rules or limits for the proportion; -so that no man knew what estate he had, or how to order his course or -expenses. 3. That it was taken out of the subject’s purse by a writ, -and brought into the King’s coffers by instructions from the lords of -his most honorable privy council. Now, in the legal defence of it, the -writ only did appear; of the instructions there was no notice taken, -which yet in the real execution of it were most predominant. It carries -the face of service in the writ, and of revenue in the instructions. -Why, if this way had not been found to turn the ship into money, it -would easily have appeared how incompatible this service is with the -office of a sheriff, in the inland counties; and how incongruous and -inconvenient for the inhabitants! The law in a body politic is like -nature, which always prepareth and disposeth proper and fit instruments -and organs for every natural operation. If the law had intended any -such charge as this, there should have been certain rules, suitable -means, and courses, for the levying and managing of it. - -The fifth head was the enlargement of the forests beyond the bounds and -perambulations[22] appointed and established by act of Parliament, -27 and 28 Edward I.; and this is done upon the very reasons and -exceptions which had been on the King’s part propounded, and by the -Commons answered, in Parliament, not long after that establishment. It -is not unknown to many in this House that those perambulations were -the fruit and effect of that famous charter which is called “Charta de -Forrestâ,” whereby many tumults, troubles, and discontents had been -taken away, and composed between the King and his subjects; and it is -full of danger, that by reviving those old questions, we may fall into -the like distempers. Hereby, however, no blame could fall upon that -great lord, who is now justice in Eyre, and in whose name these things -were acted; it could not be expected that he should take notice of the -laws and customs of the realm; therefore he was careful to procure the -assistance and direction of the judges; and if any thing were done -against law, it was for them to answer, and not for him. - -The particular irregularities and obliquities of this business were -these:—1. The surreptitious procuring a verdict for the King; without -giving notice to the country whereby they might be prepared to give -in evidence for their own interest and indemnity, as was done in -Essex. 2. Whereas the judges in the justice seat in Essex were -consulted with about the entry of the former verdict, and delivered -their opinion touching that alone, without meddling with the point -of right; this opinion was after enforced in other counties as if -it had been a judgment upon the matter, and the council for the -county discountenanced in speaking, because it was said to be already -adjudged. 3. The inheritance of divers of the subjects have been -hereupon disturbed, after the quiet possession of three or four hundred -years, and a way opened for the disturbance of many others. 4. Great -sums of money have been drawn from such as have lands within these -pretended bounds, and those who have forborne to make composition have -been threatened with the execution of these forest laws. 5. The fifth -was the selling of nuisances, or at least some such things as are -supposed to be nuisances. The King, as father of the commonwealth, is -to take care of the public commodities and advantages of his subjects, -as rivers, highways, common sewers, and suchlike, and is to remove -whatsoever is prejudicial to them; and for the trial of those there -are legal and ordinary writs of _ad quod damnum_; but of late a new -and extrajudicial way hath been taken, of declaring matters to be -nuisances; and divers have thereupon been questioned, and if they would -not compound, they have been fined; if they do compound, that which -was first prosecuted as a common nuisance is taken into the King’s -protection and allowed to stand; and having yielded the King money, no -further care is taken whether it be good or bad for the commonwealth. -By this a very great and public trust is either broken or abused. If -the matter compounded for be truly a nuisance, then it is broken to -the hurt of the people; if it be not a nuisance, then it is abused -to the hurt of the party. The particulars mentioned were:—First, the -commission for buildings in and about this town, which heretofore hath -been presented by this House as a grievance in King James’ time, but -now of late the execution hath been much more frequent and prejudicial -than it was before. Secondly, commission for depopulation,[23] which -began some few years since, and is still in hot prosecution. By both -these the subject is restrained from disposing of his own. Some have -been commanded to demolish their houses; others have been forbidden to -build; others, after great trouble and vexation, have been forced to -redeem their peace with large sums, and they still remain, by law, as -liable to a new question as before; for it is agreed by all that the -King cannot license a common nuisance; and although indeed these are -not such, yet it is a matter of very ill consequence that, under that -name, they should be compounded for, and may in ill times hereafter -be made a precedent for the Kings of this realm to claim a power of -licensing such things as are nuisances indeed.[24] - -The seventh great civil grievance hath been, the military charges laid -upon the several counties of the kingdom; sometimes by warrant under -his Majesty’s signature, sometimes by letters from the council table, -and sometimes (such had been the boldness and presumption of some men), -by the order of the Lord Lieutenants, or deputy-lieutenant alone. -This is a growing evil; still multiplying and increasing from a few -particulars to many, from small sums to great. It began first to be -practised as a loan, for supply of coat and conduct money; and for this -it hath some countenance from the use in Queen Elizabeth’s time, when -the lords of the council did often desire the deputy-lieutenants to -procure so much money to be laid out in the country as the service did -require, with a promise to pay it again in London; for which purpose -there was a constant warrant in the exchequer. This was the practice -in her time, and in a great part of King James’. But the payments were -then so certain, as it was little otherwise than taking up money upon -bills of exchange. At this day they follow these precedents in the -manner of the demand (for it is with a promise of a repayment), but not -in the certainty and readiness of satisfaction. - -The first particular brought into a tax (as he thought) was the muster -master’s wages, at which many repined; but being for small sums, it -began to be generally digested; yet, in the last Parliament, this House -was sensible of it, and to avoid the danger of the precedent that -the subjects should be forced to make any payments without consent -in Parliament, they thought upon a bill that might be a rule to the -lieutenants what to demand, and to the people what to pay. But the -hopes of this bill were dashed in the dissolution of that Parliament. -Now of late divers other particulars are growing into practise, which -make the grievance much more heavy. Those mentioned were these: 1. -Pressing men against their will, and forcing them which are rich or -unwilling to serve, to find others in their place. 2. The provision of -public magazines for powder, and other munition, spades and pickaxes. -3. The salary of divers officers besides the muster master. 4. The -buying of cart-horses and carts, and hiring of carts for carriages. - -The eighth head of civil grievances was the extrajudicial declarations -of judges, whereby the subjects have been bound in matters of great -importance without hearing of counsel or argument on their part, -and are left without legal remedy, by writ of error or otherwise. -He remembered the expression used by a former member of the House, -of a “teeming parliament.” This, he said, was a teeming grievance; -from hence have issued most of the great grievances now in being. The -ship-money—the pretended nuisances already mentioned—and some others -which have not yet been touched upon,—especially that concerning the -proceedings of ecclesiastical courts. - -The ninth general head was—that the authority and wisdom of the council -table have been applied to the contriving and managing of several -monopolies, and other great grievances. The institution of the -council-table was much for the advantage and security of the subject, -to avoid surreptitious and precipitate courts in the great affairs of -the kingdom. But by law an oath should be taken by all those of the -King’s council, in which, amongst other things it is expressed that -they should for no cause forbear to do right to all the King’s people. -If such an oath be not now taken, he wished it might be brought into -use again. - -It was the honor of that table, to be, as it were, incorporated with -the King; his royal power and greatness did shine most conspicuously -in their actions and in their counsels. We have heard of projectors -and referees heretofore; and what opinion and relish they have found -in this House is not unknown.[25] But that any such thing should be -acted by the council-table which might give strength and countenance -to monopolies, as it hath not been used till now of late, so it cannot -be apprehended without the just grief of the honest subject, and -encouragement of those who are ill affected. He remembered that _in -tertio_ of this king, a noble gentleman, then a very worthy member of -the Commons’ House, now a great lord and eminent counsellor of State, -did in this place declare an opinion concerning that clause used to -be inserted in patents of monopoly, whereby justices of peace are -commanded to assist the patentees; and that he urged it to be a great -dishonor to those gentlemen which are in commission to be so meanly -employed—with how much more reason may we, in jealousy of the honor of -the council-table, humbly desire that their precious time, their great -abilities, designed to the public care and service of the kingdom, -may not receive such a stain, such a diminution as to be employed in -matters of so ill report, in the estimation of the law; of so ill -effect in the apprehension of the people! - -The tenth head of civil grievances was comprised in the high court of -star chamber, which some think succeeded that which in the parliament -rolls is called _magnum concilium_, and to which parliaments were -wont so often to refer those important matters which they had no -time to determine. But now this court, which in the late restoration -or erection of it in Henry VII.’s time, was especially designed to -restrain the oppression of great men, and to remove the obstructions -and impediments of the law,—this, which is both a court of counsel -and a court of justice—hath been made an instrument of erecting and -defending monopolies and other grievances; to set a face of right -upon those things which are unlawful in their own nature; a face of -public good upon such as are pernicious in their use and execution. The -soap-patent and divers other evidences thereof may be given, so well -known as not to require a particular relation. And as if this were not -enough, this court hath lately intermeddled with the ship money! divers -sheriffs have been questioned for not levying and collecting such sums -as their counties have been charged with; and if this beginning be not -prevented, the star chamber will become a court of revenue, and it -shall be made crime not to collect or pay such taxes as the State shall -require! - -The eleventh head of civil grievance was now come to. He said, he was -gone very high, yet he must go a little higher. That great and most -eminent power of the King, of making edicts and proclamations, which -are said to be _leges temporis_, and by means of which our princes -have used to encounter with such sudden and unexpected danger, as -would not endure so much delay, as assembling the great council of -the kingdom—this, which is one of the most glorious beams of majesty, -most rigorous in commanding reverence and subjection, hath, to our -unspeakable grief, been often exercised of late for the enjoining and -maintaining sundry monopolies and other grants; exceeding burdensome -and prejudicial to the people. - -The twelfth next. Now, although he was come as high as he could -upon earth, yet the presumption of evil men did lead him one step -higher—even as high as heaven—as high as the throne of God! It was now -(he said) grown common for ambitious and corrupt men of the clergy to -abuse the truth of God and the bond of conscience; preaching down the -laws and liberties of the kingdom; and pretending divine authority for -an absolute power in the King, to do what he would with our persons and -goods. This hath been so often published in sermons and printed books, -that it is now the highway to preferment! - -In the last parliament we had a sentence of an offence of this kind -against one Manwaring, then a doctor, now a bishop; concerning whom -(he said) he would say no more but this, that when he saw him at that -bar, in the most humble and dejected posture that ever he observed, he -thought he would not so soon have leaped into a bishop’s chair! But -his success hath emboldened others; therefore (he said) this may well -be noted as a double grievance, that such doctrine should be allowed, -and that such men should be preferred; yea, as a root of grievances, -whereby they endeavor to corrupt the King’s conscience, and, as much as -in them lies, to deprive the people of that royal protection to which -his Majesty is bound by the fundamental laws of the kingdom, and by his -own personal oath. - -The thirteenth head of civil grievences he would thus express: The long -intermission of parliaments, contrary to the two statutes yet in force, -whereby it is appointed there should be parliaments once a year, at the -least; and most contrary to the public good of the kingdom; since, this -being well remedied, it would generate remedies for all the rest. - -Having gone through the several heads of grievances, he came to the -second main branch, propounded in the beginning; that the disorders -from whence these grievances issued were as hurtful to the King as to -the people, of which he gave divers reasons. - -1. The interruption of the sweet communion which ought to be betwixt -the King and his people, in matters of grace and supply. They have -need of him by his general pardon; to be secured from projectors and -informers; to be freed from obsolete laws; from the subtle devices -of such as seek to restrain the prerogative to their own private -advantage, and the public hurt; and he hath need of them for counsel -and support in great and extraordinary occasions. This mutual -intercourse, if indeed sustained, would so weave the affections and -interests of his subjects into his actions and designs that their -wealth and their persons would be his; his own estate would be managed -to most advantage; and public undertakings would be prosecuted at the -charge and adventure of the subject. The victorious attempts in Queen -Elizabeth’s time upon Portugal, Spain, and the Indies, were for the -greatest part made upon the subjects’ purses, and not upon the Queen’s; -though the honor and profit of the success did most accrue to her. - -2. Those often breaches and discontentments betwixt the King and the -people are very apt to diminish his reputation abroad, and disadvantage -his treaties and alliances. - -3. The apprehension of the favor and encouragement given to popery hath -much weakened his Majesty’s party beyond the sea, and impaired that -advantage which Queen Elizabeth and his royal father have heretofore -made, of being heads of the Protestant union. - -4. The innovations in religion and rigor of ecclesiastical courts have -forced a great many of his Majesty’s subjects to forsake the land; -whereby not only their persons and their posterity, but their wealth -and their industry are lost to this kingdom, much to the reduction, -also, of his Majesty’s customs and subsidies. And, amongst other -inconveniences of such a sort, this was especially to be observed, that -divers clothiers, driven out of the country, had set up the manufacture -of cloth beyond the seas; whereby this State is like to suffer much -by abatement of the price of wools, and by want of employment for the -poor; both which likewise tend to his Majesty’s particular loss. - -5. It puts the King upon improper ways of supply, which, being not -warranted by law, are much more burdensome to the subject than -advantageous to his Majesty. In France, not long since, upon a survey -of the King’s revenue, it was found that two parts in three never came -to the King’s purse, but were diverted to the profit of the officers -or ministers of the crown, and it was thought a very good service and -reformation to reduce two parts to the King, leaving still a third part -to the instruments that were employed about getting it in. It may well -be doubted that the King may have the like or worse success in England, -which appears already in some particulars. The King, for instance, hath -reserved upon the monopoly of wines thirty thousand pounds rent a year; -the vintner pays forty shillings a ton, which comes to ninety thousand -pounds; the price upon the subject by retail is increased two-pence a -quart, which comes to eight pounds a ton, and for forty-five thousand -tons brought in yearly, amounts to three hundred and sixty thousand -pounds; which is three hundred and thirty thousand pounds loss to the -kingdom, above the King’s rent! Other monopolies also, as that of -soap, have been very chargeable to the kingdom and brought very little -treasure into his Majesty’s coffers. Thus it is that the law provides -for that revenue of the crown which is natural and proper, that it -may be safely collected and brought to account; but this illegal -revenue, being without any such provision, is left to hazard and much -uncertainty, either not to be retained, or not duly accounted of. - -6. It is apt to weaken the industry and courage of the subject; if -they be left uncertain, whether they shall reap the benefit of their -own pains and hazard. Those who are brought into the condition of -slaves will easily grow to a slavish disposition, who, having nothing -to lose, do commonly shew more boldness in disturbing than defending a -kingdom. - -7. These irregular courses do give opportunity to ill instruments, -to insinuate themselves into the King’s service, for we cannot but -observe, that if a man be officious in furthering their inordinate -burdens of ship money, monopolies, and the like, it varnisheth over all -other faults, and makes him fit both for employment and preferment; -so that out of their offices, they are furnished for vast expenses, -purchases, buildings; and the King loseth often more in desperate debts -at their death, than he got by them all their lives. Whether this were -not lately verified in a western man, much employed while he lived, he -leaves to the knowledge of those who were acquainted with his course; -and he doubted not but others might be found in the like case. The -same course, again, has been pursued with those that are affected to -popery, to profaneness, and to superstitious innovations in matters -of religion. All kinds of spies and intelligencers, have means to be -countenanced and trusted if they will be but zealous in these kind of -services, which, how much it detracts from his Majesty, in honor, in -profit, and prosperity of public affairs, lies open to every man’s -apprehension. And from these reasons or some of them, he thought it -proceeded, that through the whole course of the English story it might -be observed, that those kings who had been most respectful of the laws, -had been most eminent in greatness, in glory, and success, both at home -and abroad; and that others, who thought to subsist by the violation of -them, did often fall into a state of weakness, poverty, and infortunity. - -8. The differences and discontents betwixt his Majesty and the people -at home, have in all likelihood diverted his royal thoughts and -counsels from those great opportunities which he might have, not only -to weaken the House of Austria, and to restore the palatinate, but -to gain himself a higher pitch of power and greatness than any of -his ancestors. For it is not unknown how weak, how distracted, how -discontented the Spanish colonies are in the West Indies. There are now -in those parts in New England, Virginia, and the Caribbean Islands, -and in the Bermudas, at least sixty thousand able persons of this -nation, many of them well armed, and their bodies seasoned to that -climate, which with a very small charge, might be set down in some -advantageous parts of these pleasant, rich, and fruitful countries, and -easily make his Majesty master of all that treasure, which not only -foments the war, but is the great support of popery in all parts of -Christendom. - -9. And lastly, those courses are likely to produce such distempers in -the State as may not be settled without great charge and loss; by which -means more may be consumed in a few months than shall be gotten by such -ways in many years. - -Having thus passed through the two first general branches, he was now -come to the third, wherein he was to set down the ways of healing -and removing those grievances which consisted of two main branches: -first, in declaring the law where it was doubtful; the second, in -better provision for the execution of law, where it is clear. But (he -said) because he had already spent much time, and begun to find some -confusion in his memory,[26] he would refer the particulars to another -opportunity, and for the present only move that which was general to -all, and which would give weight and advantage to all the particular -ways of redress. That is, that we should speedily desire a conference -with the lords, and acquaint them with the miserable condition wherein -we find the Church and State; and as we have already resolved to join -in a religious seeking of God, in a day of fast and humiliation, so to -entreat them to concur with us in a parliamentary course of petitioning -the King, as there should be occasion; and in searching out the causes -and remedies of these many insupportable grievances under which we -lie. That so, by the united wisdom and authority of both Houses, such -courses may be taken as (through God’s blessing) may advance the honor -and greatness of his Majesty, and restore and establish the peace and -prosperity of the kingdom. - -This, he said, we might undertake with comfort and hope of success; -for though there be a darkness upon the land, a thick and palpable -darkness, like that of Egypt, yet, as in that, the sun had not lost -his light, nor the Egyptians their sight (the interruption was only -in the medium), so with us, there is still (God be thanked) light in -the sun—wisdom and justice in his Majesty—to dispel this darkness; -and in us there remains a visual faculty, whereby we are enabled to -apprehend, and moved to desire, light. And when we shall be blessed in -the enjoying of it, we shall thereby be incited to return his Majesty -such thanks as may make it shine more clearly in the world, to his own -glory, and in the hearts of his people, to their joy and contentment. - - - At the conclusion of Pym’s speech, the King’s solicitor, Herbert, - “with all imaginable address,” attempted to call off the attention of - the members from the extraordinary impression it had made. But the - singular moderation no less than the deadly force of Pym’s statements - had created a calm but a settled determination. A committee was at - once appointed to inquire into violations of privilege; and it was - resolved to ask for a conference on grievances with the Lords. A - conference was held, and the debate continued for two days—that of - the second day continuing from eight in the morning till five in the - afternoon. The King saw that grievances would have to be redressed - before supplies would be granted, and, accordingly, at an early hour - on the following morning, he dissolved Parliament. - - The Revolution was now probably inevitable. The affection of the - people and of the members of Parliament for the King was fast - transformed into distrust, and finally into hostility. Macaulay in - his essays on “Hampden” and “Hallam’s Constitutional History” has - well shown the several steps in the process of transformation. The - King was soon obliged to summon another Parliament; and when the new - members came together in November of the same year, it was evident - that compromise was no longer possible. The impeachment and execution - of Strafford were soon followed by an attempt of the King to arrest - the leading members of Parliament, and this attempt in turn was - followed by the outbreak of war. - - - - -LORD CHATHAM. - - -The elder William Pitt entered the House of Commons at the age of -twenty-six, in the year 1735. At Eton and at Oxford his energies had -been devoted to a course of study that was admirably adapted to develop -the remarkable powers for which his name is so well known. We are told -that he was a devoted student of the classics, that he wrote out again -and again carefully-prepared translations of some of the great models -of ancient oratory, and that in this way he acquired his easy command -of a forcible and expressive style. His studies in English, too, were -directed to the same end. He read and reread the sermons of Dr. Barrow, -till he had acquired something of that great preacher’s copiousness of -vocabulary and exactness of expression. With the same end in view he -also performed the extraordinary task of going twice through Bailey’s -Dictionary, examining every word, and making himself, as far as -possible, complete master of all the shades of its significance. Joined -to these efforts was also an unusual training in elocution, which gave -him extraordinary command of a remarkable voice, and made him an actor -scarcely inferior to Garrick himself. It may be doubted whether any -one, since the days of Cicero, has subjected himself to an equal amount -of pure drudgery in order to fit himself for the duties of a public -speaker. - -When Pitt entered the House of Commons, Walpole was at the height of -his power. Pitt’s first speech was on the occasion of the marriage -of the Prince of Wales in 1736; and, although it consisted mainly of -a series of high-sounding compliments, it attracted immediate and -universal attention on account of its fine command of language and -its general elegance of manner. United with these characteristics -was also a vein of irony that made it “gall and wormwood” to the -King and to Walpole. The Prince of Wales, as so often has happened -in English history, was at the head of the opposition to the -government. This opposition had been so strenuous as to provoke the -energetic displeasure of the King and of the First Minister. King -George’s animosity had gone so far as to forbid the moving of the -congratulatory address by the Minister of the Crown. This fact gave -to Pitt an opportunity which he turned to immediate account. Though -there was not a syllable in the speech that could be regarded as -disrespectful or improper, the orator so managed the subject as to give -to his compliments all the effect of the keenest irony. His glowing -utterances on the “filial virtues” of the son, and the “tender paternal -delight” of the father, showed to his astonished auditors that he was -concealing under the cover of faultless phrases an able and a dangerous -opposition. Walpole was filled with anxiety and alarm. He is said to -have remarked: “We must at all events muzzle that terrible cornet of -horse.” It is probable that the arts of bribery were attempted in -order to win over the young officer; but it is certain that, if the -effort was made, it met with failure, for Pitt remained inflexibly -attached to the Prince and the opposition. Walpole could at least throw -him into disgrace. Within two weeks after his speech, Pitt was deprived -of his commission. - -The effect was what an acute politician should have foreseen. It made -the Court more odious; it created a general sympathy for the young -orator; it put him at the head of the new party known as the Patriots. -Walpole, from this moment, was obliged to assume the defensive, and his -power steadily declined till his fall in 1741. It was in a succession -of assaults upon Walpole that the great abilities of Pitt forced -themselves into universal recognition. - -The sources of his power were two-fold. In the first place he made -himself the avowed champion of what may be called the popular part of -the Constitution. His effort was to rescue the government from those -corruptions which had kept Walpole so long in place, and had so long -stifled all the popular sentiments of the nation. In the interests -of this purpose he was the first to propose a reform of the House of -Commons, as a result of which there might be something like a true -representation of popular interests. The other source of his power was -in the methods and characteristics of his eloquence. He was not in a -true sense a great debator. His ability lay not in any power to analyze -a difficult and complicated subject and present the bearings of its -several parts in a manner to convince the reason. His peculiarities -were rather in his way of seizing upon the more obvious phases of the -question at issue, and presenting them with a nobility of sentiment, a -fervor of energy, a loftiness of conception, and a power of invective -that bore down and destroyed all opposition. - -During much of the time between 1735 and 1755 Pitt was in the -opposition. When, on the fall of Walpole in 1741, Carteret came into -power, Pitt assailed his narrow views and sordid methods with such -energy that after three years he was given up as an object of merited -reprobation. Pelham was now called to the head of affairs; but he would -accept the office of First Minister only on condition that Pitt would -take office under him. The King for a long time resisted; but, after a -vain attempt to have a government formed under Pulteney, he gave his -assent. Thus Pitt became Paymaster of the Forces in 1746, an office -which he held till the death of Pelham in 1754. - -But on the accession of Pelham’s brother, the Duke of Newcastle, he -once more fell into the opposition. The two years that followed were -the most brilliant period of his oratory. The ministry gave him ample -opportunities, and he took every occasion to improve them. Disasters -abounded in every quarter of the British Empire. The loss of Minorca, -the capture of Calcutta, the defeat of Gen. Braddock, the threatened -invasion of England by the French, were themes well calculated to call -forth his awful invective. The result was that Newcastle was driven -from his place. Public opinion demanded that the reins now be placed -in the hands of the only man fitted to hold them. Pitt became Prime -Minister in December of 1756. - -But the personal dislike of the King still would allow him no success. -Newcastle with the support of the royal favor was able to defeat him in -the House of Commons; and in April, 1757, he was ordered to retire. But -the outburst of popular indignation showed itself in all parts of the -kingdom. The chief towns sent gold boxes containing the “freedom of the -cities” in token of their approval of the minister. As Horace Walpole -said: “It rained gold boxes.” The King was obliged to give way, and in -June of 1757 Pitt was recalled. - -Then began his great career as a statesman. With a power that in -England has never been equalled, he infused his own spirit into all -those about him. The panic which had paralyzed all effort gave way to -an air of proud and defiant confidence. The secret was, that Pitt had -the faculty of transfusing his own zeal into all those with whom he -came in contact. “It will be impossible to have so many ships prepared -so soon,” said Lord Anson, when a certain expedition was ordered. -“If the ships are not ready,” cried out Pitt, “I will impeach your -Lordship, in the presence of the House.” The ships were ready; indeed, -so was every thing else as he required. And this was the spirit that -carried into England the energy of a new existence. Within little more -than two years all was changed. In Africa France was obliged to give -up every settlement she possessed. In India she was stripped of every -post, and, after defeat at sea, was obliged to abandon her contest for -the mastery of the East. In the New World the victories of the English -were even more striking and more important. A chain of French forts -had hemmed in the English settlers, and threatened the very existence -of the Colonies. One after another, Fort Duquesne, Ticonderoga, Crown -Point, Oswego, Niagara, Louisburg, and Quebec, fell into the hands of -the English. The war is summarized by saying that at the close of the -conflict, not a foot of territory was left to the French in the Western -World. In Europe the French were defeated at Créveldt and Minden; Havre -was bombarded; the fortifications at Cherbourg were destroyed; and the -great victory off Quiberon demolished the French Navy for the remainder -of the war. And yet, when in 1760 George III. ascended the throne, -he conspired with the Tory leaders to overthrow the great minister, -“in order,” as was finely said by Grattan, “to be relieved of his -superiority.” George was determined to follow his mother’s injunctions -and “be king.” The royal opposition succeeded in defeating Pitt on the -manner of beginning the Spanish war; and the most glorious ministry -that England had ever seen was brought to an end in October, 1761. In -four and a half years England had been taken from a state of extreme -humiliation and made the first power in Europe. - -The remaining sixteen years of Pitt’s life with one brief interval, -were devoted to the Opposition. He was tortured with the gout, and -during much of this period was unable to be in his place in Parliament, -or even to leave his bed. But at times the energy of his will overcame -the infirmities of his body and he appeared in the House, where he -always made his voice and his influence felt. With the accession of -the Tories under the lead of the King, the traditional methods of -government were in danger. It was to combat these tendencies,—as he -said: “to restore, to save, to confirm the Constitution,”—that all his -powers of body and mind were directed. He was the champion of popular -interests in opposition to the usurping prerogatives of George III. - -It was during this period that most of his speeches preserved to us -in one form and another were delivered. But the reporting of speeches -had not yet come into vogue. Most of his efforts were written out with -more or less fulness by some of his friends. The speech which every -school boy learns, beginning: “The atrocious crime of being a young -man,” was written out by Dr. Johnson. The speech on the Stamp Act, -delivered in January of 1766, was reported by Sir Robert Dean and Lord -Charlemont. The one selected for this collection, that on an Address to -the Throne concerning affairs in America, was reported by Hugh Boyd, -and is said to have been corrected by Chatham himself. It is probable -that no speeches ever lost more in the process of reporting than his; -for, more than any one else he was dependent on the circumstances and -the inspiration of the moment. An eminent contemporary said of him: “No -man ever knew so little what he was going to say”; and he once said -of himself: “When once I am up, every thing that is in my mind comes -out.” His speeches were in the matter of form strictly extemporaneous, -and they acquired their almost marvellous power, very largely from -those peculiarities of voice and manner which are wholly absent in the -printed form. Macaulay in one of his essays says of him: “His figure -was strikingly graceful and commanding, his features high, his eye full -of fire. His voice, even when it sunk to a whisper, was heard to the -remotest benches; and when he strained it to its fullest extent, the -sound rose like the swell of an organ of a great cathedral, shook the -house with its peal, and was heard through lobbies and down staircases -to the Court of Requests and the precincts of Westminster Hall. He -cultivated all these eminent advantages with the most assiduous care. -His action is described by a very malignant observer as equal to that -of Garrick. His play of countenance was wonderful; he frequently -disconcerted a hostile orator by a single glance of indignation or -scorn.” To understand the full power of his oratory, the reader must -keep these characteristics always in mind. - -From the beginning of the reign of George III., Chatham, of course, was -almost constantly in the opposition. Afflicted by disease and saddened -by disappointment, he was seldom in Parliament; and sometimes even -when there, he was too weak to give adequate expression to his ardent -thoughts. He was “the great Commoner”; and his influence therefore was -much weakened when in 1767 he went into the House of Lords. But to -the last his character was above suspicion, and it was finely said of -him that “great as was his oratory, every one felt that the man was -infinitely greater than the orator.” Even Franklin said of him: “I -have sometimes seen eloquence without wisdom, and often wisdom without -eloquence; but in him I have seen them united in the highest degree.” -His death occurred on the 11th of May, 1778, in the seventieth year of -his age. - - - - -LORD CHATHAM. - -ON THE RIGHT OF TAXING AMERICA. HOUSE OF COMMONS, JANUARY 14, 1766. - - - The famous Stamp Act resorted to as a means of raising a revenue - from the American Colonies during the Ministry of Mr. George - Grenville, was approved on the 22d of March, 1765. The law was never - successfully enforced; and when, a few months after its passage, - the Ministry of Grenville was succeeded by that of Lord Rockingham, - it became evident that nothing but a change of policy would restore - America to tranquillity. The plan of the Ministry was to repeal the - act, but at the same time to assert the _right_ of Parliament to tax - the Colonies. Against this position, Pitt (for he had not yet become - Lord Chatham) determined to take a stand. The following speech, made - on the occasion, is a good specimen of his earlier oratory,—though in - parts it was evidently much abridged in the process of reproduction. - It was reported by Sir Robert Dean, assisted by Lord Charlemont, and - the version here given is supposed to be more nearly as the speech - was spoken than is the report of any of the other of his speeches, - except that on an “Address to the Throne,” given hereafter. - - -MR. SPEAKER: - -I came to town but to-day. I was a stranger to the tenor of his -Majesty’s speech, and the proposed address, till I heard them read -in this House. Unconnected and unconsulted, I have not the means of -information. I am fearful of offending through mistake, and therefore -beg to be indulged with a second reading of the proposed address. [The -address being read, Mr. Pitt went on:] I commend the King’s speech, -and approve of the address in answer, as it decides nothing, every -gentleman being left at perfect liberty to take such a part concerning -America as he may afterward see fit. One word only I cannot approve of: -an “early,” is a word that does not belong to the notice the ministry -have given to Parliament of the troubles in America. In a matter of -such importance, the communication ought to have been _immediate_! - -I speak not now with respect to parties. I stand up in this place -single and independent. As to the late ministry [turning himself to Mr. -Grenville, who sat within one of him], every capital measure they have -taken has been entirely wrong! As to the present gentlemen, to those -at least whom I have in my eye [looking at the bench where General -Conway sat with the lords of the treasury], I have no objection. I -have never been made a sacrifice by any of them. Their characters are -fair; and I am always glad when men of fair character engage in his -Majesty’s service. Some of them did me the honor to ask my opinion -before they would engage. These will now do me the justice to own, I -advised them to do it—but, notwithstanding [for I love to be explicit], -_I cannot give them my confidence_. Pardon me, gentlemen [bowing to -the ministry], confidence is a plant of slow growth in an aged bosom. -Youth is the season of credulity. By comparing events with each other, -reasoning from effects to causes, methinks I plainly discover the -traces of an _overruling_ influence.[27] - -There is a clause in the Act of Settlement obliging every minister to -sign his name to the advice which he gives to his sovereign. Would it -were observed! I have had the honor to serve the Crown, and if I could -have submitted to _influence_, I might have still continued to serve: -but I would not be responsible for others. I have no local attachments. -It is indifferent to me whether a man was rocked in his cradle on this -side or that side of the Tweed. I sought for merit wherever it was to -be found. It is my boast, that I was the first minister who looked for -it, and found it, in the mountains of the North. I called it forth, -and drew into your service a hardy and intrepid race of men—men, who, -when left by your jealousy, became a prey to the artifices of your -enemies, and had gone nigh to have overturned the state in the war -before the last. These men, in the last war, were brought to combat on -your side. They served with fidelity, as they fought with valor, and -conquered for you in every part of the world. Detested be the national -reflections against them! They are unjust, groundless, illiberal, -unmanly! When I ceased to serve his Majesty as a minister, it was not -the _country_ of the man by which I was moved—but the _man_ of that -country wanted wisdom, and held principles incompatible with freedom. - -It is a long time, Mr. Speaker, since I have attended in Parliament. -When the resolution was taken in this House to tax America, I was ill -in bed. If I could have endured to be carried in my bed—so great was -the agitation of my mind for the consequences—I would have solicited -some kind hand to have laid me down on this floor, to have borne my -testimony against it! It is now an act that has passed. I would speak -with decency of every act of this House; but I must beg the indulgence -of the House to speak of it with freedom. - -I hope a day may soon be appointed to consider the state of the nation -with respect to America. I hope gentlemen will come to this debate -with all the temper and impartiality that his Majesty recommends, -and the importance of the subject requires; a subject of greater -importance than ever engaged the attention of this House, that subject -only excepted, when, near a century ago, it was the question whether -you yourselves were to be bond or free. In the meantime, as I cannot -depend upon my health for any future day (such is the nature of my -infirmities), I will beg to say a few words at present, leaving the -justice, the equity, the policy, the expediency of the act to another -time. - -I will only speak to one point—a point which seems not to have been -generally understood I mean to the _right_. Some gentlemen [alluding -to Mr. Nugent] seem to have considered it as a point of honor. If -gentlemen consider it in that light, they leave all measures of right -and wrong, to follow a delusion that may lead to destruction. It is -my opinion, that this kingdom has no right to lay a tax upon the -colonies. At the same time, I assert the authority of this kingdom over -the colonies to be sovereign and supreme, in every circumstance of -government and legislation whatsoever. They are the subjects of this -kingdom; equally entitled with yourselves to all the natural rights -of mankind and the peculiar privileges of Englishmen; equally bound -by its laws, and equally participating in the constitution of this -free country. The Americans are the sons, not the bastards of England! -Taxation is no part of the governing or legislative power. The taxes -are a voluntary _gift_ and _grant_ of the Commons alone. In legislation -the three estates of the realm are alike concerned; but the concurrence -of the peers and the Crown to a tax is only necessary to clothe it -with the form of a law. The gift and grant is of the Commons alone. -In ancient days, the Crown, the barons, and the clergy possessed the -lands. In those days, the barons and the clergy gave and granted to the -Crown. They gave and granted what was their own! At present, since the -discovery of America, and other circumstances permitting, the Commons -are become the proprietors of the land. The Church (God bless it!) has -but a pittance. The property of the lords, compared with that of the -commons, is as a drop of water in the ocean; and this House represents -those commons, the proprietors of the lands; and those proprietors -virtually represent the rest of the inhabitants. When, therefore, in -this House, we give and grant, we give and grant what is our own. But -in an American tax, what do we do? “We, your Majesty’s Commons for -Great Britain, give and grant to your Majesty”—what? Our own property! -No! “We give and grant to your Majesty” the property of your Majesty’s -Commons of America! It is an absurdity in terms.[28] - -The distinction between legislation and taxation is essentially -necessary to liberty. The Crown and the peers are equally legislative -powers with the Commons. If taxation be a part of simple legislation, -the Crown and the peers have rights in taxation as well as yourselves; -rights which they will claim, which they will exercise, whenever the -principle can be supported by power. - -There is an idea in some that the colonies are _virtually_ represented -in the House. I would fain know by whom an American is represented -here. Is he represented by any knight of the shire, in any county -in this kingdom? Would to God that respectable representation was -augmented to a greater number! Or will you tell him that he is -represented by any representative of a borough? a borough which, -perhaps, its own representatives never saw! This is what is called -the rotten part of the Constitution. It cannot continue a century. -If it does not drop, it must be amputated.[29] The idea of a virtual -representation of America in this House is the most contemptible idea -that ever entered into the head of a man. It does not deserve a serious -refutation. - -The Commons of America represented in their several assemblies, have -ever been in possession of the exercise of this, their constitutional -right, of giving and granting their own money. They would have been -slaves if they had not enjoyed it! At the same time, this kingdom, -as the supreme governing and legislative power, has always bound the -colonies by her laws, by her regulations, and restrictions in trade, -in navigation, in manufactures, in every thing, except that of taking -their money out of their pockets without their consent. - -Here I would draw the line: - - Quam ultra citraque neque consistere rectum. - -[When Lord Chatham had concluded, Mr. George Grenville secured the -floor and entered into a general denunciation of the tumults and riots -which had taken place in the colonies, and declared that they bordered -on rebellion. He condemned the language and sentiments which he had -heard as encouraging a _revolution_. A portion of his speech is here -inserted, as it is necessary for a complete understanding of the reply -of Lord Chatham.] - -“I cannot,” said Mr. Grenville, “understand the difference between -external and internal taxes. They are the same in effect, and differ -only in name. That this kingdom has the sovereign, the supreme -legislative power over America, is granted; it cannot be denied; and -taxation is a part of that sovereign power. It is one branch of the -legislation. It is, it has been, exercised over those who are not, -who were never represented. It is exercised over the India Company, -the merchants of London, the proprietors of the stocks, and over -many great manufacturing towns. It was exercised over the county -palatine of Chester, and the bishopric of Durham, before they sent any -representatives to Parliament. I appeal for proof to the preambles of -the acts which gave them representatives; one in the reign of Henry -VIII., the other in that of Charles II.” [Mr. Grenville then quoted -the acts, and desired that they might be read; which being done, -he said]: “When I proposed to tax America, I asked the House if any -gentleman would object to the right; I repeatedly asked it, and no man -would attempt to deny it. Protection and obedience are reciprocal. -Great Britain protects America; America is bound to yield obedience. -If not, tell me when the Americans were emancipated? When they want -the protection of this kingdom, they are always very ready to ask -it. That protection has always been afforded them in the most full -and ample manner. The nation has run herself into an immense debt to -give them their protection; and now, when they are called upon to -contribute a small share toward the public expense—an expense arising -from themselves—they renounce your authority, insult your officers, -and break out, I might almost say, into open rebellion. The seditious -spirit of the colonies owes its birth to the factions in this House. -Gentlemen are careless of the consequences of what they say, provided -it answers the purposes of opposition. We were told we trod on tender -ground. We were bid to expect disobedience. What is this but telling -the Americans to stand out against the law, to encourage their -obstinacy with the expectation of support from hence? “Let us only hold -out a little,” they would say, “our friends will soon be in power.” -Ungrateful people of America! Bounties have been extended to them. When -I had the honor of serving the Crown, while you yourselves were loaded -with an enormous debt, you gave bounties on their lumber, on their -iron, their hemp, and many other articles. You have relaxed in their -favor the Act of Navigation, that palladium of the British commerce; -and yet I have been abused in all the public papers as an enemy to the -trade of America. I have been particularly charged with giving orders -and instructions to prevent the Spanish trade, and thereby stopping the -channel by which alone North America used to be supplied with cash for -remittances to this country. I defy any man to produce any such orders -or instructions. I discouraged no trade but what was illicit, what was -prohibited by an act of Parliament. I desire a West India merchant -[Mr. Long], well known in the city, a gentleman of character, may be -examined. He will tell you that I offered to do every thing in my -power to advance the trade of America. I was above giving an answer to -anonymous calumnies; but in this place it becomes one to wipe off the -aspersion.” - -[Here Mr. Grenville ceased. Several members got up to speak, but Mr. -Pitt seeming to rise, the House was so clamorous for Mr. _Pitt!_ Mr. -_Pitt!_ that the speaker was obliged to call to order.] - -Mr. Pitt said, I do not apprehend I am speaking twice. I did expressly -reserve a part of my subject, in order to save the time of this House; -but I am compelled to proceed in it. I do not speak twice; I only -finish what I designedly left imperfect. But if the House is of a -different opinion, far be it from me to indulge a wish of transgression -against order. I am content, if it be your pleasure, to be silent. -[Here he paused. The House resounding with _Go on! go on!_ he -proceeded:] - -Gentlemen, sir, have been charged with giving birth to _sedition_ -in America. They have spoken their sentiments with freedom against -this unhappy act, and that freedom has become their crime. Sorry I -am to hear the liberty of speech in this House imputed as a crime. -But the imputation shall not discourage me. It is a liberty I mean -to exercise. No gentleman ought to be afraid to exercise it. It is a -liberty by which the gentleman who calumniates it might have profited. -He ought to have desisted from his project. The gentleman tells us, -America is obstinate; America is almost in open rebellion. I rejoice -that America has resisted. Three millions of people, so dead to all -the feelings of liberty as voluntarily to submit to be slaves, would -have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest. I come not here -armed at all points, with law cases and acts of Parliament, with -the statute book doubled down in dog’s ears, to defend the cause of -liberty. If I had, I myself would have cited the two cases of Chester -and Durham. I would have cited them to show that, even under former -arbitrary reigns, Parliaments were ashamed of taxing a people without -their consent, and allowed them representatives. Why did the gentleman -confine himself to Chester and Durham?[30] He might have taken a higher -example in Wales—Wales, that never was taxed by Parliament till it was -incorporated. I would not debate a particular point of law with the -gentleman. I know his abilities. I have been obliged to his diligent -researches. But, for the defence of liberty, upon a general principle, -upon a constitutional principle, it is a ground on which I stand -firm—on which I dare meet any man. The gentleman tells us of many -who are taxed, and are not represented—the India company, merchants, -stockholders, manufacturers. Surely many of these are represented in -other capacities, as owners of land, or as freemen of boroughs. It is -a misfortune that more are not equally represented. But they are all -inhabitants, and as such, are they not virtually represented? Many have -it in their option to be actually represented. They have connections -with those that elect, and they have influence over them. The gentleman -mentioned the stockholders. I hope he does not reckon the debts of the -nation as a part of the national estate. - -Since the accession of King William, many ministers, some of great, -others of more moderate abilities, have taken the lead of government. -[Here Mr. Pitt went through the list of them, bringing it down till he -came to himself, giving a short sketch of the characters of each, and -then proceeded:] None of these thought, or even dreamed, of robbing -the colonies of their constitutional rights. That was reserved to mark -the era of the late administration. Not that there were wanting some, -when I had the honor to serve his Majesty, to propose to me to burn my -fingers with an American stamp act. With the enemy at their back, with -our bayonets at their breasts, in the day of their distress, perhaps -the Americans would have submitted to the imposition; but it would have -been taking an ungenerous, an unjust advantage. The gentleman boasts of -his bounties to America! Are not these bounties intended finally for -the benefit of this kingdom? If they are not, he has misapplied the -national treasures! - -I am no courtier of America. I stand up for this kingdom. I maintain -that the Parliament has a right to bind, to restrain America. Our -legislative power over the colonies is sovereign and supreme. When it -ceases to be sovereign and supreme, I would advise every gentleman -to sell his lands, if he can, and embark for that country. When two -countries are connected together like England and her colonies, without -being incorporated, the one must necessarily govern. The greater must -rule the less. But she must so rule it as _not to contradict the -fundamental principles that are common to both_. - -If the gentleman does not understand the difference between external -and internal taxes, I cannot help it. There is a plain distinction -between taxes levied for the purposes of raising a revenue, and duties -imposed for the regulation of trade, for the accommodation of the -subject; although, in the consequences, some revenue may incidentally -arise from the latter. - -The gentleman asks, When were the colonies emancipated? I desire to -know, when were they made slaves? But I dwell not upon words. When I -had the honor of serving his Majesty, I availed myself of the means -of information which I derived from my office. I speak, therefore, -from knowledge. My materials were good. I was at pains to collect, -to digest, to consider them; and I will be bold to affirm, that the -profits to Great Britain from the trade of the colonies, through all -its branches, is two millions a year. This is the fund that carried -you triumphantly through the last war. The estates that were rented -at two thousand pounds a year, threescore years ago, are at three -thousand at present. Those estates sold then from fifteen to eighteen -years purchase; the same may now be sold for thirty. You owe this -to America. This is the price America pays you for her protection. -And shall a miserable financier come with a boast, that he can bring -“a pepper-corn” into the exchequer by the loss of millions to the -nation?[31] I dare not say how much higher these profits may be -augmented. Omitting [_i. e._, not taking into account] the immense -increase of people, by natural population, in the northern colonies, -and the emigration from every part of Europe, I am convinced on other -grounds that the commercial system of America may be altered to -advantage. You have prohibited where you ought to have encouraged. You -have encouraged where you ought to have prohibited. Improper restraints -have been laid on the continent in favor of the islands. You have but -two nations to trade with in America. Would you had twenty! Let acts of -Parliament in consequence of treaties remain; but let not an English -minister become a custom-house officer for Spain, or for any foreign -power. Much is wrong! Much may be amended for the general good of the -whole! - -Does the gentleman complain he has been misrepresented in the public -prints? It is a common misfortune. In the Spanish affair of the last -war, I was abused in all the newspapers for having advised his Majesty -to violate the laws of nations with regard to Spain. The abuse was -industriously circulated even in hand-bills. If administration did not -propagate the abuse, administration never contradicted it. I will not -say what advice I did give the King. My advice is in writing, signed by -myself, in the possession of the Crown. But I will say what advice I -did not give to the King. I did _not_ advise him to violate any of the -laws of nations. - -As to the report of the gentleman’s preventing in some way the trade -for bullion with the Spaniards, it was spoken of so confidently that I -own I am one of those who did believe it to be true. - -The gentleman must not wonder he was not contradicted when, as -minister, he asserted the right of Parliament to tax America. I know -not how it is, but there is a modesty in this House which does not -choose to contradict a minister. Even your chair, sir, looks too often -toward St. James’. I wish gentlemen would get the better of this -modesty. If they do not, perhaps the collective body may begin to -abate of its respect for the representative. Lord Bacon has told me, -that a great question would not fail of being agitated at one time -or another. I was willing to agitate such a question at the proper -season, viz., that of the German war—_my_ German war, they called it! -Every session I called out, Has any body any objection to the German -war? Nobody would object to it, one gentleman only excepted, since -removed to the Upper House by succession to an ancient barony [Lord Le -Despencer, formerly Sir Francis Dashwood]. He told me he did not like a -German war. I honored the man for it, and was sorry when he was turned -out of his post. - -A great deal has been said without doors of the power, of the strength -of America. It is a topic that ought to be cautiously meddled with. In -a good cause, on a sound bottom, the force of this country can crush -America to atoms. I know the valor of your troops. I know the skill -of your officers. There is not a company of foot that has served in -America, out of which you may not pick a man of sufficient knowledge -and experience to make a governor of a colony there. But on this -ground, on the Stamp Act, which so many here will think a crying -injustice, I am one who will lift up my hands against it. - -In such a cause, your success would be hazardous. America, if she fell, -would fall like the strong man; she would embrace the pillars of the -State, and pull down the Constitution along with her. Is this your -boasted peace—not to sheathe the sword in its scabbard, but to sheathe -it in the bowels of your countrymen? Will you quarrel with yourselves, -now the whole house of Bourbon is united against you; while France -disturbs your fisheries in Newfoundland, embarrasses your slave trade -to Africa, and withholds from your subjects in Canada their property -stipulated by treaty; while the ransom for the Manillas is denied by -Spain, and its gallant conqueror basely traduced into a mean plunderer; -a gentleman [Colonel Draper] whose noble and generous spirit would do -honor to the proudest grandee of the country? The Americans have not -acted in all things with prudence and temper: they have been wronged: -they have been driven to madness by injustice. Will you punish them for -the madness you have occasioned? Rather let prudence and temper come -first from this side. I will undertake for America that she will follow -the example. There are two lines in a ballad of Prior’s, of a man’s -behavior to his wife, so applicable to you and your colonies, that I -can not help repeating them: - - “Be to her faults a little blind; - Be to her virtues very kind.” - -Upon the whole, I will beg leave to tell the House what is my opinion. -It is, that the Stamp Act be repealed absolutely, totally, and -immediately. That the reason for the repeal be assigned, viz., because -it was founded on an erroneous principle. At the same time, let the -sovereign authority of this country over the colonies be asserted in as -strong terms as can be devised, and be made to extend to every point -of legislation whatsoever; that we may bind their trade, confine their -manufactures, and exercise every power whatsoever, except that of -taking their money out of their pockets without their consent. - - - Notwithstanding the advice of Pitt, the government pushed on in - its mad course. The Stamp Act had to be repealed; but accompanying - the repeal was a declaration that Parliament had the power and the - right “to bind the colonies and people of America in all cases - whatsoever.” This was the very position that the Colonies had - denied. It was not so much the _tax_ as the _right_ to tax that the - Americans questioned. When the resolution reached the House of Peers, - Lord Camden sustained the American view. He said: “My position is - this,—I repeat it—I will maintain to the last hour, taxation and - representation are inseparable. This position is founded on the law - of nature. It is more, it is in itself an eternal law of nature. For - whatever is a man’s own is absolutely his own. No man has a right to - take it from him without his consent either expressed by himself or - his representative. Whoever attempts to do this attempts an injury. - Whoever does it, commits a robbery.” Lord Mansfield, however, as - we shall see, took the opposite ground, and the opposite ground - prevailed. The consequence was that the Colonies were lost. - - - - -LORD CHATHAM. - -ON AN ADDRESS TO THE THRONE CONCERNING AFFAIRS IN AMERICA. HOUSE OF -LORDS, NOVEMBER 18, 1777. - - - Though at the delivery of this speech Chatham had already entered - upon his seventieth year, he seems to have been inspired with all the - fire of his youth. It is by most critics regarded as his greatest - effort. Chatham had abundant reason for an extraordinary affection - for America, and, as he saw that a persistence in the mad course - entered upon would inevitably result in a loss of the colonies, he - brought all his powers to an advocacy of a treaty of peace on such - terms as would at once save the colonies and the honor of the mother - country. It is the only speech of Chatham, the report of which was - corrected by himself and published with his approval. - - -I rise, my Lords, to declare my sentiments on this most solemn and -serious subject. It has imposed a load upon my mind, which, I fear, -nothing can remove, but which impels me to endeavor its alleviation, by -a free and unreserved communication of my sentiments. - -In the first part of the address, I have the honor of heartily -concurring with the noble Earl who moved it. No man feels sincerer -joy than I do; none can offer more genuine congratulations on every -accession of strength to the Protestant succession. I therefore join in -every congratulation on the birth of another princess, and the happy -recovery of her Majesty. - -But I must stop here. My courtly complaisance will carry me no farther. -I will not join in congratulation on misfortune and disgrace. I cannot -concur in a blind and servile address, which approves and endeavors -to sanctify the monstrous measures which have heaped disgrace and -misfortune upon us. This, my Lords, is a perilous and tremendous -moment! It is not a time for adulation. The smoothness of flattery -cannot now avail—cannot save us in this rugged and awful crisis. It is -now necessary to instruct the Throne in the language of truth. We must -dispel the illusion and the darkness which envelop it, and display, in -its full danger and true colors, the ruin that is brought to our doors. - -This, my Lords, is our duty. It is the proper function of this noble -assembly, sitting, as we do, upon our honors in this House, the -hereditary council of the Crown. _Who_ is the minister—_where_ is -the minister, that has dared to suggest to the Throne the contrary, -unconstitutional language this day delivered from it? The accustomed -language from the Throne has been application to Parliament for advice, -and a reliance on its constitutional advice and assistance. As it is -the right of Parliament to give, so it is the duty of the Crown to -ask it. But on this day, and in this extreme momentous exigency, no -reliance is reposed on our constitutional counsels! no advice is asked -from the sober and enlightened care of Parliament! but the Crown, from -itself and by itself, declares an unalterable determination to pursue -measures—and what measures, my Lords? The measures that have produced -the imminent perils that threaten us; the measures that have brought -ruin to our doors. - -Can the minister of the day now presume to expect a continuance of -support in this ruinous infatuation? Can Parliament be so dead to its -dignity and its duty as to be thus deluded into the loss of the one and -the violation of the other? To give an unlimited credit and support for -the steady perseverance in measures not proposed for our parliamentary -advice, but dictated and forced upon us—in measures, I say, my Lords, -which have reduced this late flourishing empire to ruin and contempt! -“But yesterday, and England might have stood against the world: now -none so poor to do her reverence.” I use the words of a poet; but, -though it be poetry, it is no fiction. It is a shameful truth, that -not only the power and strength of this country are wasting away and -expiring, but her well-earned glories, her true honor, and substantial -dignity are sacrificed. - -France, my Lords, has insulted you; she has encouraged and sustained -America; and, whether America be wrong or right, the dignity of this -country ought to spurn at the officious insult of French interference. -The ministers and embassadors of those who are called rebels and -enemies are in Paris; in Paris they transact the reciprocal interests -of America and France. Can there be a more mortifying insult? Can -even our ministers sustain a more humiliating disgrace? Do they dare -to resent it? Do they presume even to hint a vindication of their -honor, and the dignity of the State, by requiring the dismission of -the plenipotentiaries of America? Such is the degradation to which -they have reduced the glories of England! The people whom they -affect to call contemptible rebels, but whose growing power has at -last obtained the name of enemies; the people with whom they have -engaged this country in war, and against whom they now command our -implicit support in every measure of desperate hostility—this people, -despised as rebels, or acknowledged as enemies, are abetted against -you, supplied with every military store, their interests consulted, -and their embassadors entertained, by your inveterate enemy! and our -ministers dare not interpose with dignity or effect. Is this the honor -of a great kingdom? Is this the indignant spirit of England, who “but -yesterday” gave law to the house of Bourbon? My Lords, the dignity -of nations demands a decisive conduct in a situation like this. Even -when the greatest prince that perhaps this country ever saw filled our -Throne, the requisition of a Spanish general, on a similar subject, was -attended to and complied with; for, on the spirited remonstrance of -the Duke of Alva, Elizabeth found herself obliged to deny the Flemish -exiles all countenance, support, or even entrance into her dominions; -and the Count Le Marque, with his few desperate followers, were -expelled the kingdom. Happening to arrive at the Brille, and finding -it weak in defence, they made themselves masters of the place; and -this was the foundation of the United Provinces. - -My Lords, this ruinous and ignominious situation, where we can not -act with success, nor suffer with honor, calls upon us to remonstrate -in the strongest and loudest language of truth, to rescue the ear of -majesty from the delusions which surround it. The desperate state -of our arms abroad is in part known. No man thinks more highly of -them than I do. I love and honor the English troops. I know their -virtues and their valor. I know they can achieve any thing except -impossibilities; and I know that the conquest of English America _is an -impossibility_. You cannot, I venture to say it, _you cannot_ conquer -America. Your armies in the last war effected every thing that could be -effected; and what was it? It cost a numerous army, under the command -of a most able general [Lord Amherst], now a noble Lord in this House, -a long and laborious campaign, to expel five thousand Frenchmen from -French America. My Lords, _you cannot conquer America_. What is your -present situation there? We do not know the worst; but we know that in -three campaigns we have done nothing and suffered much. Besides the -sufferings, perhaps _total loss_ of the Northern force,[32] the best -appointed army that ever took the field, commanded by Sir William Howe, -has retired from the American lines. _He was obliged_ to relinquish his -attempt, and with great delay and danger to adopt a new and distant -plan of operations. We shall soon know, and in any event have reason -to lament, what may have happened since. As to conquest, therefore, -my Lords, I repeat, it is impossible. You may swell every expense -and every effort still more extravagantly; pile and accumulate every -assistance you can buy or borrow; traffic and barter with every little -pitiful German prince that sells and sends his subjects to the shambles -of a foreign prince; your efforts are forever vain and impotent—doubly -so from this mercenary aid on which you rely; for it irritates, to -an incurable resentment, the minds of your enemies, to overrun them -with the mercenary sons of rapine and plunder, devoting them and their -possessions to the rapacity of hireling cruelty! If I were an American, -as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country, -I never would lay down my arms—never—never—never. - -Your own army is infected with the contagion of these illiberal allies. -The spirit of plunder and of rapine is gone forth among them. I know -it; and, notwithstanding what the noble Earl [Lord Percy] who moved -the address has given as his opinion of the American army, I know from -authentic information, and the _most experienced officers_, that our -discipline is deeply wounded. While this is notoriously our sinking -situation, America grows and flourishes; while our strength and -discipline are lowered, hers are rising and improving. - -But, my Lords, who is the man that, in addition to these disgraces and -mischiefs of our army, has dared to authorize and associate to our arms -the tomahawk and scalping-knife of the savage? to call into civilized -alliance the wild and inhuman savage of the woods; to delegate to -the merciless Indian the defence of disputed rights, and to wage the -horrors of his barbarous war against our brethren? My Lords, these -enormities cry aloud for redress and punishment. Unless thoroughly done -away, it will be a stain on the national character. It is a violation -of the Constitution. I believe it is against law. It is not the least -of our national misfortunes that the strength and character of our -army are thus impaired. Infected with the mercenary spirit of robbery -and rapine; familiarized to the horrid scenes of savage cruelty, it -can no longer boast of the noble and generous principles which dignify -a soldier; no longer sympathize with the dignity of the royal banner, -nor feel the pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war, “that make -ambition virtue!” What makes ambition virtue?—the sense of honor. But -is the sense of honor consistent with a spirit of plunder, or the -practice of murder? Can it flow from mercenary motives, or can it -prompt to cruel deeds? Besides these murderers and plunderers, let me -ask our ministers, What other allies have they acquired? What _other -powers_ have they associated in their cause? Have they entered into -alliance with the _king of the gipsies_? Nothing, my Lords, is too low -or too ludicrous to be consistent with their counsels. - -The independent views of America have been stated and asserted as -the foundation of this address. My Lords, no man wishes for the due -dependence of America on this country more than I do. To preserve it, -and not confirm that state of independence into which _your measures_ -hitherto have _driven them_, is the object which we ought to unite in -attaining. The Americans, contending for their rights against arbitrary -exactions, I love and admire. It is the struggle of free and virtuous -patriots. But, contending for independency and total disconnection -from England, as an Englishman, I cannot wish them success; for in -a due constitutional dependency, including the ancient supremacy of -this country in regulating their commerce and navigation, consists -the mutual happiness and prosperity both of England and America. She -derived assistance and protection from us; and we reaped from her the -most important advantages. She was, indeed, the fountain of our wealth, -the nerve of our strength, the nursery and basis of our naval power. It -is our duty, therefore, my Lords, if we wish to save our country, most -seriously to endeavor the recovery of these most beneficial subjects; -and in this perilous crisis, perhaps the present moment may be the -only one in which we can hope for success. For in their negotiations -with France, they have, or think they have, reason to complain; though -it be notorious that they have received from that power important -supplies and assistance of various kinds, yet it is certain they -expected it in a more decisive and immediate degree. America is in -ill humor with France; on some points they have not entirely answered -her expectations. Let us wisely take advantage of every possible -moment of reconciliation. Besides, the natural disposition of America -herself still leans toward England; to the old habits of connection and -mutual interest that united both countries. This _was_ the established -sentiment of all the Continent; and still, my Lords, in the great and -principal part, the sound part of America, this wise and affectionate -disposition prevails. And there is a very considerable part of America -yet sound—the middle and the southern provinces. Some parts may be -factious and blind to their true interests; but if we express a wise -and benevolent disposition to communicate with them those immutable -rights of nature and those constitutional liberties to which they -are equally entitled with ourselves, by a conduct so just and humane -we shall confirm the favorable and conciliate the adverse. I say, my -Lords, the rights and liberties to which they are equally entitled -with ourselves, _but no more_. I would participate to them every -enjoyment and freedom which the colonizing subjects of a free state -can possess, or wish to possess; and I do not see why they should not -enjoy every fundamental right in their property, and every original -substantial liberty, which Devonshire, or Surrey, or the county I live -in, or any other county in England, can claim; reserving always, as the -sacred right of the mother country, the due constitutional dependency -of the colonies. The inherent supremacy of the state in regulating -and protecting the navigation and commerce of all her subjects, is -necessary for the mutual benefit and preservation of every part, to -constitute and preserve the prosperous arrangement of the whole empire. - -The sound parts of America, of which I have spoken, must be sensible -of these great truths and of their real interests. America is not in -that state of desperate and contemptible rebellion which this country -has been deluded to believe. It is not a wild and lawless banditti, -who, having nothing to lose, might hope to snatch something from public -convulsions. Many of their leaders and great men have a great stake -in this great contest. The gentleman who conducts their armies, I am -told, has an estate of four or five thousand pounds a year; and when I -consider these things, I cannot but lament the inconsiderate violence -of our penal acts, our declaration of treason and rebellion, with all -the fatal effects of attainder and confiscation. - -As to the disposition of foreign powers which is asserted [in the -King’s speech] to be pacific and friendly, let us judge, my Lords, -rather by their actions and the nature of things than by interested -assertions. The uniform assistance supplied to America by France -suggests a different conclusion. The most important interests of -France in aggrandizing and enriching herself with what she most wants, -supplies of every naval store from America, must inspire her with -different sentiments. The extraordinary preparations of the House of -Bourbon, by land and by sea, from Dunkirk to the Straits, equally -ready and willing to overwhelm these defenceless islands, should rouse -us to a sense of their real disposition and our own danger.[33] Not -five thousand troops in England! hardly three thousand in Ireland! -What can we oppose to the combined force of our enemies? Scarcely -twenty ships of the line so fully or sufficiently manned, that any -admiral’s reputation would permit him to take the command of. The -river of Lisbon in the possession of our enemies! The seas swept by -American privateers! Our Channel trade torn to pieces by them! In this -complicated crisis of danger, weakness at home, and calamity abroad, -terrified and insulted by the neighboring powers, unable to act in -America, or acting only to be destroyed, where is the man with the -forehead to promise or hope for success in such a situation, or from -perseverence in the measures that have driven us to it? Who has the -forehead to do so? Where is that man? I should be glad to see his face. - -You can not _conciliate_ America by your present measures. You cannot -_subdue_ her by your present or by any measures. What, then, can you -do? You cannot conquer; you cannot gain; but you can _address_; you -can lull the fears and anxieties of the moment into an ignorance of -the danger that should produce them. But, my Lords, the time demands -the language of truth. We must not now apply the flattering unction -of servile compliance or blind complaisance. In a just and necessary -war, to maintain the rights or honor of my country, I would strip the -shirt from my back to support it. But in such a war as this, unjust -in its principle, impracticable in its means, and ruinous in its -consequences, I would not contribute a single effort nor a single -shilling. I do not call for vengeance on the heads of those who have -been guilty; I only recommend to them to make their retreat. Let them -walk off; and let them make haste, or they may be assured that speedy -and condign punishment will overtake them. - -My Lords, I have submitted to you, with the freedom and truth which -I think my duty, my sentiments on your present awful situation. I -have laid before you the ruin of your power, the disgrace of your -reputation, the pollution of your discipline, the contamination of -your morals, the complication of calamities, foreign and domestic, -that overwhelm your sinking country. Your dearest interests, your own -liberties, the Constitution itself, totters to the foundation. All -this disgraceful danger, this multitude of misery, is the monstrous -offspring of this unnatural war. We have been deceived and deluded -too long. Let us now stop short. This is the crisis—the only crisis -of time and situation, to give us a possibility of escape from the -fatal effects of our delusions. But if, in an obstinate and infatuated -perseverance in folly, we slavishly echo the peremptory words this day -presented to us, nothing can save this devoted country from complete -and final ruin. We madly rush into multiplied miseries, and “confusion -worse confounded.” - -Is it possible, can it be believed, that ministers are yet blind to -this impending destruction? I did hope, that instead of this false and -empty vanity, this overweening pride, engendering high conceits and -presumptuous imaginations, ministers would have humbled themselves -in their errors, would have confessed and retracted them, and by an -active, though a late, repentance, have endeavored to redeem them. -But, my Lords, since they had neither sagacity to foresee, nor justice -nor humanity to shun these oppressive calamities—since not even severe -experience can make them feel, nor the imminent ruin of their country -awaken them from their stupefaction, the guardian care of Parliament -must interpose. I shall, therefore, my Lords, propose to you an -amendment of the address to his Majesty, to be inserted immediately -after the two first paragraphs of congratulation on the birth of a -princess, to recommend an immediate cessation of hostilities, and the -commencement of a treaty to restore peace and liberty to America, -strength and happiness to England, security and permanent prosperity -to both countries. This, my Lords, is yet in our power; and let not the -wisdom and justice of your Lordships neglect the happy, and, perhaps, -the only opportunity. By the establishment of irrevocable law, founded -on mutual rights, and ascertained by treaty, these glorious enjoyments -may be firmly perpetuated. And let me repeat to your Lordships, that -the strong bias of America, at least of the wise and sounder parts of -it, naturally inclines to this happy and constitutional reconnection -with you. Notwithstanding the temporary intrigues with France, we may -still be assured of their ancient and confirmed partiality to us. -America and France cannot be congenial. There is something decisive -and confirmed in the honest American, that will not assimilate to the -futility and levity of Frenchmen. - -My Lords, to encourage and confirm that innate inclination to -this country, founded on every principle of affection, as well as -consideration of interest; to restore that favorable disposition into a -permanent and powerful reunion with this country; to revive the mutual -strength of the empire; again to awe the House of Bourbon, instead of -meanly truckling, as our present calamities compel us, to every insult -of French caprice and Spanish punctilio; to re-establish our commerce; -to reassert our rights and our honor; to confirm our interests, -and renew our glories forever—a consummation most devoutly to be -endeavored! and which, I trust, may yet arise from reconciliation with -America—I have the honor of submitting to you the following amendment, -which I move to be inserted after the two first paragraphs of the -address: - -“And that this House does most humbly advise and supplicate his Majesty -to be pleased to cause the most speedy and effectual measures to be -taken for restoring peace in America; and that no time may be lost in -proposing an immediate opening of a treaty for the final settlement of -the tranquillity of these invaluable provinces, by a removal of the -unhappy causes of this ruinous civil war, and by a just and adequate -security against the return of the like calamities in times to come. -And this House desire to offer the most dutiful assurances to his -Majesty, that they will, in due time, cheerfully co-operate with the -magnanimity and tender goodness of his Majesty for the preservation -of his people, by such explicit and most solemn declarations, and -provisions of fundamental and irrevocable laws, as may be judged -necessary for the ascertaining and fixing forever the respective rights -of Great Britain and her colonies.” - -[In the course of this debate, Lord Suffolk, secretary for the northern -department, undertook to defend the employment of the Indians in the -war. His Lordship contended that, besides its _policy_ and _necessity_, -the measure was also allowable on _principle_; for that “it was -perfectly justifiable to use all the means that _God and nature put -into our hands_!”] - -I am astonished [exclaimed Lord Chatham, as he rose], shocked! to hear -such principles confessed—to hear them avowed in this House, or in this -country; principles equally unconstitutional, inhuman, and unchristian! - -My Lords, I did not intend to have encroached again upon your -attention, but I cannot repress my indignation. I feel myself impelled -by every duty. My Lords, we are called upon as members of this House, -as men, as Christian men, to protest against such notions standing -near the Throne, polluting the ear of Majesty. “That God and nature -put into our hands!” I know not what ideas that Lord may entertain -of God and nature, but I know that such abominable principles are -equally abhorrent to religion and humanity. What! to attribute the -sacred sanction of God and nature to the massacres of the Indian -scalping-knife—to the cannibal savage, torturing, murdering, roasting, -and eating—literally, my Lords, _eating_ the mangled victims of his -barbarous battles! Such horrible notions shock every precept of -religion, divine or natural, and every generous feeling of humanity. -And, my Lords, they shock every sentiment of honor; they shock me as a -lover of honorable war, and a detester of murderous barbarity. - -These abominable principles, and this more abominable avowal of them, -demand the most decisive indignation. I call upon that right reverend -bench, those holy ministers of the Gospel, and pious pastors of our -Church—I conjure them to join in the holy work, and vindicate the -religion of their God. I appeal to the wisdom and the law of this -learned bench, to defend and support the justice of their country. I -call upon the Bishops to interpose the unsullied sanctity of their -lawn; upon the learned judges, to interpose the purity of their -ermine, to save us from this pollution. I call upon the honor of -your Lordships, to reverence the dignity of your ancestors, and to -maintain your own. I call upon the spirit and humanity of my country -to vindicate the national character. I invoke the genius of the -Constitution. From the tapestry that adorns these walls, the immortal -ancestor of this noble Lord frowns with indignation at the disgrace -of his country.[34] In vain he led your victorious fleets against the -boasted Armada of Spain; in vain he defended and established the honor, -the liberties, the religion—the _Protestant religion_—of this country, -against the arbitrary cruelties of popery and the Inquisition, if -these more than popish cruelties and inquisitorial practices are let -loose among us—to turn forth into our settlements, among our ancient -connections, friends, and relations, the merciless cannibal, thirsting -for the blood of man, woman and child, to send forth the infidel -savage—against whom? against your Protestant brethren; to lay waste -their country, to desolate their dwellings, and extirpate their race -and name with these horrible hell-hounds of savage war—_hell-hounds, I -say, of savage war!_ Spain armed herself with blood-hounds to extirpate -the wretched natives of America, and we improve on the inhuman example -even of Spanish cruelty; we turn loose these savage hell-hounds -against our brethren and countrymen in America, of the same language, -laws, liberties, and religion, endeared to us by every tie that should -sanctify humanity. - -My Lords, this awful subject, so important to our honor, our -Constitution, and our religion, demands the most solemn and effectual -inquiry. And I again call upon your Lordships, and the united powers of -the State, to examine it thoroughly and decisively, and to stamp upon -it an indelible stigma of the public abhorrence. And I again implore -those holy prelates of our religion to do away these iniquities from -among us. Let them perform a lustration; let them purify this House, -and this country, from this sin. - -My Lords, I am old and weak, and at present unable to say more; but my -feelings and indignation were too strong to have said less. I could -not have slept this night in my bed, nor reposed my head on my pillow, -without giving this vent to my eternal abhorrence of such preposterous -and enormous principles. - - - The warning voice was heard in vain. Chatham’s urgent anxiety was - not enough to carry his amendment. It was lost by a vote of 97 to - 24. The address triumphed; Parliament adjourned; the members went - to their Christmas festivities; the treaty with France was framed - and ratified; and the chance of recovering the colonies was lost - forever. Chatham did not live till the end of the war, but as soon as - he learned that the treaty with France was signed, he knew that the - fatal result was inevitable. - - - - -LORD MANSFIELD. - - -The most formidable rival and opponent of Lord Chatham was William -Murray, known in history as Lord Mansfield. In point of native talent -it would not be easy to determine which had the advantage; but it -is generally conceded that Mansfield’s mind was the more carefully -trained, and that his memory was the more fully enriched with the -stores of knowledge. He was preëminently a lawyer and a lover of the -classics; but Lord Campbell speaks of his familiarity with modern -history as “astounding and even _appalling_, for it produces a painful -consciousness of inferiority, and creates remorse for time misspent.” -His career is one of the most extraordinary examples in English history -of an unquestioning acceptance of the stern conditions of the highest -success. - -Mansfield’s education was characterized by a phenominal devotion to -some of the severer kinds of intellectual drudgery. Though he was -fourth son of Lord Stormont and brother of Lord Dunbar, the Secretary -of the Pretender, he seems from the first to have been fully conscious -that he must rely for distinction upon his own efforts alone. When he -was but fourteen he had become so familiar with the Latin language -that he wrote and spoke it “with accuracy and ease,” and in after-life -he declared that there was not one of the orations of Cicero which he -had not, while at Oxford, written into English, and after an interval, -according to the best of his ability, re-translated into Latin. Leaving -Oxford at the age of twenty-two he was entered as a student of law at -Lincoln’s Inn in 1727. Lord Campbell says of him: “When he was admitted -to the bar in 1730, he had made himself acquainted not only with -the international law, but with the codes of all the most civilized -nations, ancient and modern; he was an elegant classical scholar; he -was thoroughly imbued with the literature of his own country; he had -profoundly studied our mixed constitution; he had a sincere desire to -be of service to his country; and he was animated by a noble aspiration -after honorable fame.” - -The family of Murray was one of those Scotch families upon whom a -peerage was bestowed by James I. It is not very singular therefore that -Lord Stormont, the representative of the family, in the eighteenth -century, should, like his predecessors, remain true to the Stuarts and -the Pretender. William, the fourth son, grew up in the traditional -political beliefs of his ancestors. While Pitt, therefore, was a -Whig, Murray was a High Tory. In manner they were as different as -in politics. Pitt was ardent and imperious, Murray was cool and -circumspect. Pitt strove to overwhelm, but Murray strove to convince. -Though Pitt was the great master of declamatory invective, Murray -was vastly his superior in all the qualities that go to make up a -great debater. The immediate influence of Pitt’s speeches was far -more overwhelming, but the qualities of Murray’s argument were more -persuasive and more permanent in their influence. Pitt entered the -House of Commons in 1735 at twenty-six; Murray in 1742 at thirty-seven. -During fourteen years therefore, before 1756 they were each the -great exponents of the political parties to which they respectively -belonged. Murray entered the House of Lords as Chief Justice and with -the title of Baron Mansfield in the same year in which Pitt began his -great career as Prime Minister. The power of Pitt was in the House -of Commons, while that of Murray was in the House of Lords. Pitt’s -influence was over the masses, whose devotion was such that “they -hugged his footmen and even kissed his horses.” Murray’s power was over -the more thoughtful few who in the end directed public opinion and -moulded public action. - -The character of Murray, like that of his great rival, was not only -above reproach, but was remarkable for its stern rejection of every -thing that tried to turn him aside from his great purpose. When the -Duchess of Marlborough strove to put him under obligations by sending -him a retainer of a thousand guineas, he returned nine hundred and -ninety-five, with the remark that a retaining fee was never more nor -less than five guineas. When Newcastle offered him a pension of £6,000 -a year, if he would remain in the House of Commons, instead of taking -the Bench, he put the offer aside without a moment’s hesitation, -saying: “What merit have I, that you should lay on this country, for -which so little is done with spirit, the additional burden of £6,000 a -year?” He was Lord Chief Justice for nearly thirty-two years. Though he -probably did more to strengthen the cause of the mother country against -the colonies than any other one man, yet his great services have been -no less generously acknowledged in America than in England. It was Mr. -Justice Story who said: “England and America, and the civilized world, -lie under the deepest obligations to him. Wherever commerce shall -extend its social influences; wherever justice shall be administered -by enlightened and liberal rules; wherever contracts shall be expounded -upon the eternal principles of right and wrong; wherever moral delicacy -and judicial refinement shall be infused into the municipal code, at -once to persuade men to be honest and to keep them so; wherever the -intercourse of mankind shall aim at something more elevated than that -grovelling spirit of barter, in which meanness, and avarice, and fraud -strive for the mastery over ignorance, credulity, and folly, the name -of Lord Mansfield will be held in reverence by the good and the wise, -by the honest merchant, the enlightened lawyer, the just statesman, -and the conscientious judge. The proudest monument of his fame is in -the volumes of Burrow, and Cowper, and Douglas, which we may fondly -hope will endure as long as the language in which they are written -shall continue to instruct mankind. His judgments should not be merely -referred to and read on the spur of particular occasions, but should be -studied as models of juridical reasoning and eloquence.” - -When the matter of repealing the Stamp Act came before Parliament, the -question turned, as we have already observed, chiefly on the subject -of the clause declaring the _right_ of Parliament to levy the tax. -While Chatham arrayed all his powers against the right, Mansfield was -its most strenuous supporter. His speech on the subject is of great -importance to the American student, because it is by far the most able -and plausible ever delivered in support of the British policy. It is -avowedly directed to the question of right, not at all to the question -of expediency. Lord Campbell, although inclined to the doctrines of the -Whigs, refers to the speech as one of arguments to which he “has never -been able to find an answer.” The position of Mansfield undoubtedly had -a very great influence in determining and strengthening the policy of -the King and of the ministry. The speech was corrected for the press by -the orator’s own hand, and may be regarded as authentic. - - - - -LORD MANSFIELD. - -ON THE RIGHT OF ENGLAND TO TAX AMERICA. HOUSE OF LORDS, FEBRUARY 3, -1766. - - - The discussion, of which the speech of Pitt already given, formed a - part, came up on the adoption of the motion declaring the right of - England to tax America,—a motion accompanying the bill repealing the - Stamp Act. The motion was strenuously opposed, not only by Pitt in - the House of Commons, but also by Lord Camden in the House of Lords. - Camden said: “In my opinion, my Lords, the legislature have no right - to make this law. The sovereign authority, the omnipotence of the - legislature is a favorite doctrine; but there are some things which - you cannot do. You cannot take away a man’s property, without making - him a compensation. You have no right to condemn a man by bill of - attainder without hearing him. But, though Parliament cannot take - away a man’s property, yet every subject must make contributions, and - this he consents to do by his representative. Notwithstanding the - King, Lords, and Commons could in ancient times tax other people, - they could not tax the clergy.” Lord Camden then went on to show at - length, that the counties palatine of Wales and of Berwick, were - never taxed till they were represented in Parliament. The same was - true, he said, of Ireland; and the same doctrines should prevail in - regard to America. It was in answer to Lord Camden that the following - speech of Lord Mansfield was made. - - -MY LORDS: - -I shall speak to the question strictly as a matter of right; for it is -a proposition in its nature so perfectly distinct from the expediency -of the tax, that it must necessarily be taken separate, if there is any -true logic in the world; but of the expediency or inexpediency I will -say nothing. It will be time enough to speak upon that subject when it -comes to be a question. - -I shall also speak to the distinctions which have been taken, without -any real difference, as to the nature of the tax; and I shall point -out, lastly, the necessity there will be of exerting the force of the -superior authority of government, if opposed by the subordinate part of -it. - -I am extremely sorry that the question has ever become necessary to -be agitated, and that there should be a decision upon it. No one in -this House will live long enough to see an end put to the mischief -which will be the result of the doctrine which has been inculcated; -but the arrow is shot and the wound already given. I shall certainly -avoid personal reflections. No one has had more cast upon him than -myself; but I never was biased by any consideration of applause from -without, in the discharge of my public duty; and, in giving my -sentiments according to what I thought law, I have relied upon my own -consciousness. It is with great pleasure I have heard the noble Lord -who moved the resolution express himself in so manly and sensible a -way, when he recommended a dispassionate debate, while, at the same -time, he urged the necessity of the House coming to such a resolution, -with great dignity and propriety of argument. - -I shall endeavor to clear away from the question, all that mass of -dissertation and learning displayed in arguments which have been -fetched from speculative men who have written upon the subject of -government, or from ancient records, as being little to the purpose. -I shall insist that these records are no proofs of our present -Constitution. A noble Lord has taken up his argument from the -settlement of the Constitution at the revolution; I shall take up my -argument from the Constitution as it now is. The Constitution of this -country has been always in a moving state, either gaining or losing -something and with respect to the modes of taxation, when we get beyond -the reign of Edward the First, or of King John, we are all in doubt -and obscurity. The history of those times is full of uncertainties. -In regard to the writs upon record, they were issued some of them -according to law, and some not according to law; and such [_i. e._, of -the latter kind] were those concerning ship-money, to call assemblies -to tax themselves, or to compel benevolences. Other taxes were raised -from escuage, fees for knights’ service, and by other means arising -out of the feudal system. Benevolences are contrary to law; and it is -well known how people resisted the demands of the Crown in the case of -ship-money, and were persecuted by the Court; and if any set of men -were to meet now to lend the King money, it would be contrary to law, -and a breach of the rights of Parliament. - -I shall now answer the noble Lord particularly upon the cases he has -quoted. With respect to the Marches of Wales, who were the borderers, -privileged for assisting the King in his war against the Welsh in the -mountains, their enjoying this privilege of taxing themselves was but -of a short duration, and during the life of Edward the First, till the -Prince of Wales came to be the King; and then they were annexed to -the Crown, and became subject to taxes like the rest of the dominions -of England; and from thence came the custom, though unnecessary, of -naming Wales and the town of Monmouth in all proclamations and in acts -of Parliament. Henry the Eighth was the first who issued writs for it -to return two members to Parliament. The Crown exercised this right _ad -libitum_, from whence arises the inequality of representation in our -Constitution at this day. Henry VIII. issued a writ to Calais to send -one burgess to Parliament. One of the counties palatine [I think he -said Durham] was taxed fifty years to subsidies, before it sent members -to Parliament. The clergy were at no time unrepresented in Parliament. -When they taxed themselves, it was done with the concurrence and -consent of Parliament, who permitted them to tax themselves upon their -petition, the Convocation sitting at the same time with the Parliament. -They had, too, their representatives always sitting in this House, -bishops and abbots; and, in the other House, they were at no time -without a right of voting singly for the election of members; so that -the argument fetched from the case of the clergy is not an argument of -any force, because they were at no time unrepresented here. - -The reasoning about the colonies of Great Britain, drawn from the -colonies of antiquity, is a mere useless display of learning; for the -colonies of the Tyrians in Africa, and of the Greeks in Asia, were -totally different from our system. No nation before ourselves formed -any regular system of colonization, but the Romans; and their system -was a military one, and of garrisons placed in the principal towns of -the conquered provinces. The States of Holland were not colonies of -Spain; they were States dependent upon the house of Austria in a feudal -dependence. Nothing could be more different from our colonies than that -flock of men, as they have been called, who came from the North and -poured into Europe. Those emigrants renounced all laws, all protection, -all connection with their mother countries. They chose their leaders, -and marched under their banners to seek their fortunes and establish -new kingdoms upon the ruins of the Roman empire. - -But our colonies, on the contrary, emigrated under the sanction of the -Crown and Parliament. They were modelled gradually into their present -forms, respectively, by charters, grants, and statutes; but they were -never separated from the mother country, or so emancipated as to -become _sui juris_. There are several sorts of colonies in British -America. The charter colonies, the proprietary governments, and the -King’s colonies. The first colonies were the charter colonies, such as -the Virginia Company; and these companies had among their directors -members of the privy council and of both houses of Parliament; they -were under the authority of the privy council, and had agents resident -here, responsible for their proceedings. So much were they considered -as belonging to the Crown, and not to the King personally (for there -is a great difference, though few people attend to it), that when the -two Houses, in the time of Charles the First, were going to pass a bill -concerning the colonies, a message was sent to them by the King that -they were the King’s colonies, and that the bill was unnecessary, for -that the privy council would take order about them; and the bill never -had the royal assent. The Commonwealth Parliament, as soon as it was -settled, were very early jealous of the colonies separating themselves -from them; and passed a resolution or act (and it is a question whether -it is not in force now) to declare and establish the authority of -England over its colonies. - -But if there was no express law, or reason founded upon any necessary -inference from an express law, yet the usage alone would be sufficient -to support that authority; for, have not the colonies submitted -ever since their first establishment to the jurisdiction of the -mother country? In all questions of property, the appeals from the -colonies have been to the privy council here; and such causes have -been determined, not by the law of the colonies, but by the law of -England. A very little while ago, there was an appeal on a question of -limitation in a devise of land with remainders; and, notwithstanding -the intention of the testator appeared very clear, yet the case was -determined contrary to it, and that the land should pass according -to the law of England. The colonies have been obliged to recur very -frequently to the jurisdiction here, to settle the disputes among their -own governments. I well remember several references on this head, when -the late Lord Hardwicke was attorney general, and Sir Clement Wearg -solicitor general. New Hampshire and Connecticut were in blood about -their differences; Virginia and Maryland were in arms against each -other. This shows the necessity of one superior decisive jurisdiction, -to which all subordinate jurisdictions may recur. Nothing, my Lords, -could be more fatal to the peace of the colonies at any time, than -the Parliament giving up its authority over them; for in such a case, -there must be an entire dissolution of government. Considering how the -colonies are composed, it is easy to foresee there would be no end of -feuds and factions among the several separate governments, when once -there shall be no one government here or there of sufficient force or -authority to decide their mutual differences; and, government being -dissolved, nothing remains but that the colonies must either change -their Constitution, and take some new form of government, or fall under -some foreign power. At present the several forms of their Constitution -are very various, having been produced, as all governments have been -originally, by accident and circumstances. The forms of government in -every colony were adopted, from time to time, according to the size of -the colony; and so have been extended again, from time to time, as the -numbers of their inhabitants and their commercial connections outgrew -the first model. In some colonies, at first there was only a governor -assisted by two or three counsel; then more were added; afterward -courts of justice were erected; then assemblies were created. Some -things were done by instructions from the secretaries of state; other -things were done by order of the King and council; and other things by -commissions under the great seal. It is observable, that in consequence -of these establishments from time to time, and of the dependency of -these governments upon the supreme Legislature at home, the lenity of -each government in the colonies has been extreme toward the subject; -and a great inducement has been created for people to come and settle -in them. But, if all those governments which are now independent of -each other, should become independent of the mother country, I am -afraid that the inhabitants of the colonies are very little aware of -the consequences. They would feel in that case very soon the hand of -power more heavy upon them in their own governments, than they have yet -done, or have ever imagined. - -The Constitutions of the different colonies are thus made up of -different principles. They must remain dependent, from the necessity -of things, and their relations to the jurisdiction of the mother -country; or they must be totally dismembered from it, and form a league -of union among themselves against it, which could not be effected -without great violences. No one ever thought the contrary till the -trumpet of sedition was blown. Acts of Parliament have been made, not -only without a doubt of their legality, but with universal applause, -the great object of which has been ultimately to fix the trade of the -colonies, so as to centre in the bosom of that country from whence -they took their original. The Navigation Act shut up their intercourse -with foreign countries.[35] Their ports have been made subject to -customs and regulations which have cramped and diminished their trade. -And duties have been laid, affecting the very inmost parts of their -commerce, and, among others, that of the post; yet all these have -been submitted to peaceably, and no one ever thought till now of this -doctrine, that the colonies are not to be taxed, regulated, or bound by -Parliament. A few particular merchants were then, as now, displeased at -restrictions which did not permit them to make the greatest possible -advantages of their commerce in their own private and peculiar -branches. But, though these few merchants might think themselves losers -in articles which they had no right to gain, as being prejudicial to -the general and national system, yet I must observe that the colonies, -upon the whole, were benefited by these laws. For these restrictive -laws, founded upon principles of the most solid policy, flung a great -weight of naval force into the hands of the mother country, which -was to protect its colonies. Without a union with her, the colonies -must have been entirely weak and defenceless, but they thus became -relatively great, subordinately, and in proportion as the mother -country advanced in superiority over the rest of the maritime powers -in Europe, to which both mutually contributed, and of which both have -reaped a benefit, equal to the natural and just relation in which they -both stand reciprocally, of dependency on one side, and protection on -the other. - -There can be no doubt, my Lords, but that the inhabitants of the -colonies are as much represented in Parliament, as the greatest part -of the people of England are represented; among nine millions of whom -there are eight which have no votes in electing members of Parliament. -Every objection, therefore, to the dependency of the colonies upon -Parliament, which arises to it upon the ground of representation, goes -to the whole present Constitution of Great Britain; and I suppose it is -not meant to new-model _that_ too. People may form speculative ideas -of perfection, and indulge their own fancies or those of other men. -Every man in this country has his particular notion of liberty; but -perfection never did, and never can exist in any human institution. To -what purpose, then, are arguments drawn from a distinction, in which -there is no real difference—of a virtual and actual representation? -A member of Parliament, chosen for any borough, represents not only -the constituents and inhabitants of that particular place, but he -represents the inhabitants of every other borough in Great Britain. He -represents the city of London, and all the other commons of this land, -and the inhabitants of all the colonies and dominions of Great Britain; -and is, in duty and conscience, bound to take care of their interests. - -I have mentioned the customs and the post tax. This leads me to answer -another distinction, as false as the above; the distinction of internal -and external taxes. The noble Lord who quoted so much law, and denied -upon those grounds the right of the Parliament of Great Britain to -lay internal taxes upon the colonies, allowed at the same time that -restrictions upon trade, and duties upon the ports, were legal. But I -cannot see a real difference in this distinction; for I hold it to be -true, that a tax laid in any place is like a pebble falling into and -making a circle in a lake, till one circle produces and gives motion to -another, and the whole circumference is agitated from the centre. For -nothing can be more clear than that a tax of ten or twenty per cent. -laid upon tobacco, either in the ports of Virginia or London, is a duty -laid upon the inland plantations of Virginia, a hundred miles from the -sea, wheresoever the tobacco grows. - -I do not deny but that a tax may be laid injudiciously and injuriously, -and that people in such a case may have a right to complain. But the -nature of the tax is not now the question; whenever it comes to be one, -I am for lenity. I would have no blood drawn. There is, I am satisfied, -no occasion for any to be drawn. A little time and experience of the -inconveniences and miseries of anarchy, may bring people to their -senses. - -With respect to what has been said or written upon this subject, I -differ from the noble Lord, who spoke of Mr. Otis and his book with -contempt, though he maintained the same doctrine in some points, -while in others he carried it farther than Otis himself, who allows -everywhere the supremacy of the Crown over the colonies.[36] No man, -on such a subject, is contemptible. Otis is a man of consequence among -the people there. They have chosen him for one of their deputies at -the Congress and general meeting from the respective governments. It -was said, the man is mad. What then? One madman often makes many. -Masaniello was mad. Nobody doubts it; yet, for all that, he overturned -the government of Naples. Madness is catching in all popular assemblies -and upon all popular matters. The book is full of wildness. I never -read it till a few days ago, for I seldom look into such things. I -never was actually acquainted with the contents of the Stamp Act, till -I sent for it on purpose to read it before the debate was expected. -With respect to authorities in _another House_, I know nothing of them. -I believe that I have not been in that House more than once since I had -the honor to be called up to this; and, if I did know any thing that -passed in the other House, I could not, and would not, mention it as -an authority here. I ought not to mention any such authority. I should -think it beneath my own and your Lordship’s dignity to speak of it. - -I am far from bearing any ill will to the Americans; they are a very -good people, and I have long known them. I began life with them, and -owe much to them, having been much concerned in the plantation causes -before the privy council; and so I became a good deal acquainted with -American affairs and people. I dare say, their heat will soon be over, -when they come to feel a little the consequences of their opposition -to the Legislature. Anarchy always cures itself; but the ferment will -continue so much the longer, while hot-headed men there find that there -are persons of weight and character to support and justify them here. - -Indeed, if the disturbances should continue for a great length of -time, force must be the consequence, an application adequate to the -mischief, and arising out of the necessity of the case; for force is -only the difference between a superior and subordinate jurisdiction. In -the former, the whole force of the Legislature resides collectively, -and when it ceases to reside, the whole connection is dissolved. It -will, indeed, be to very little purpose that we sit here enacting -laws, and making resolutions, if the inferior will not obey them, or -if we neither can nor dare enforce them; for then, and then, I say, of -necessity, the matter comes to the sword. If the offspring are grown -too big and too resolute to obey the parent, you must try which is the -strongest, and exert all the powers of the mother country to decide the -contest. - -I am satisfied, notwithstanding, that time and a wise and steady -conduct may prevent those extremities which would be fatal to both. -I remember well when it was the violent humor of the times to decry -standing armies and garrisons as dangerous, and incompatible with the -liberty of the subject. Nothing would do but a regular militia. The -militia are embodied; they march; and no sooner was the militia law -thus put into execution, but it was then said to be an intolerable -burden upon the subject, and that it would fall, sooner or later, -into the hands of the Crown. That was the language, and many counties -petitioned against it. This may be the case with the colonies. In many -places they begin already to feel the effects of their resistence -to government. Interest very soon divides mercantile people; and, -although there may be some mad, enthusiastic, or ill-designing people -in the colonies, yet I am convinced that the greatest bulk, who have -understanding and property, are still well affected to the mother -country. You have, my Lords, many friends still in the colonies; and -take care that you do not, by abdicating your own authority, desert -them and yourselves, and lose them forever. - -In all popular tumults, the worst men bear the sway at first. Moderate -and good men are often silent for fear or modesty, who, in good time, -may declare themselves. Those who have any property to lose are -sufficiently alarmed already at the progress of these public violences -and violations, to which every man’s dwelling, person, and property -are hourly exposed. Numbers of such valuable men and good subjects are -ready and willing to declare themselves for the support of government -in due time, if government does not fling away its own authority. - -My Lords, the Parliament of Great Britain has its rights over the -colonies; but it may abdicate its rights. - -There was a thing which I forgot to mention. I mean, the manuscript -quoted by the noble Lord. He tells you that it is there said, that -if the act concerning Ireland had passed, the Parliament might have -abdicated its rights as to Ireland. In the first place, I heartily -wish, my Lords, that Ireland had not been named, at a time when that -country is of a temper and in a situation so difficult to be governed; -and when we have already here so much weight upon our hands, encumbered -with the extensiveness, variety, and importance of so many objects -in a vast and too busy empire, and the national system shattered and -exhausted by a long, bloody, and expensive war, but more so by our -divisions at home, and a fluctuation of counsels. I wish Ireland, -therefore, had never been named. - -I pay as much respect as any man to the memory of Lord Chief Justice -Hale; but I did not know that he had ever written upon the subject; -and I differ very much from thinking with the noble Lord, that this -manuscript ought to be published. So far am I from it, that I wish the -manuscript had never been named; for Ireland is too tender a subject to -be touched. The case of Ireland is as different as possible from that -of our colonies. Ireland was a conquered country; it had its _pacta -conventa_ and its _regalia_. But to what purpose is it to mention the -manuscript? It is but the opinion of one man. When it was written, or -for what particular object it was written, does not appear. It might -possibly be only a work of youth, or an exercise of the understanding, -in sounding and trying a question problematically. All people, when -they first enter professions, make their collections pretty early in -life; and the manuscript may be of that sort. However, be it what it -may, the opinion is but problematical; for the act to which the writer -refers never passed, and Lord Hale only said, that if it had passed, -the Parliament might have abdicated their right. - -But, my Lords, I shall make this application of it. You may abdicate -your right over the colonies. Take care, my Lords, how you do so, for -such an act will be irrevocable. Proceed, then, my Lords, with spirit -and firmness; and, when you shall have established your authority, -it will then be a time to show your lenity. The Americans, as I said -before, are a very good people, and I wish them exceedingly well; -but they are heated and inflamed. The noble Lord who spoke before -ended with a prayer. I cannot end better than by saying to it Amen; -and in the words of Maurice, Prince of Orange, concerning the -Hollanders: “_God bless this industrious, frugal, and well-meaning, but -easily-deluded people._” - - - The Stamp Act was repealed, and the Declaratory Act, thus advocated - by Lord Mansfield, was also passed by a large majority. - - The positions taken by Lord Mansfield were answered in a variety of - ways by the colonists. What may be called the American Case, was - carefully stated in a “Declaration of Rights and Grievances,” passed - by the New York Congress, October 19, 1765. The substance of the - American claims may be summarized in the following propositions: - - 1. They owed their existence not to Parliament, but to the Crown. - The King, in the exercise of the high sovereignty then conceded to - him, had made them by charter _complete civil communities_, with - legislatures of their own having power to lay taxes and do all - other acts which were necessary to their subsistence as distinct - governments. Hence, - - 2. They stood substantially on the same footing as Scotland previous - to the Union. Like her they were subject to the Navigation Act, and - similar regulations touching the _external_ relations of the empire; - and like her the ordinary legislation of England did not reach them, - nor did the common law any farther than they chose to adopt it. Hence, - - 3. They held themselves amenable in their internal concerns, not to - Parliament, but to the Crown alone. It was to the _King_ in council - or to _his_ courts that they made those occasional references and - appeals, which Lord Mansfield endeavors to draw into precedents. So - “the post tax” spoken of above, did not originate in Parliament, - but in a charter to an individual which afterward reverted to the - Crown, and it was in this way alone that the post-office in America - became connected with that of England. Even the American Declaration - of Independence does not once refer to the British Parliament. The - colonists held that they owed allegiance to the King only, and hence - it was the King’s conduct alone that was regarded as a just reason - for their renouncing their allegiance. One of their grievances was, - that he confederated with others in “_pretended acts of legislation_.” - - The Colonists supported their argument by an appeal to - “long-continued usage.” Burke acknowledged the force of this - position, though he drew from it the conclusion merely that, “to - introduce a change now, is both inexpedient and unwise.” The - Colonists, on the contrary, held: “You have no right to lay the - taxes.” The attitude of the colonies is best studied in the volume of - “Prior Documents to Almon’s Remembrancer,” where all the important - papers and the resolutions of the several colonies are given. See, - also, Pilkin’s “Political History,” Marshall’s “American Colonies,” - and vol. i. of Story, “On the Constitution.” There is an excellent - summary of the debate in the English Parliament, probably written by - Burke, in the _Annual Register_, vol. ix., pp. 35–48; and a still - fuller one embracing the examination of Franklin, in Hansard’s - “Parliamentary History,” vol. xvi., pp. 90–200. - - - - -EDMUND BURKE. - - -There is much in the oratory of Edmund Burke to suggest the -amplitude of mind and the power and scope of intellectual grasp that -characterized Shakespeare. He surveyed every subject as if standing -on an eminence and taking a view of it in all its relations, however -complex and remote. United with this remarkable comprehensiveness was -also a subtlety of intellect that enabled him to penetrate the most -complicated relations and unravel the most perplexed intricacies. Why? -Whence? For what end? With what results? were the questions that his -mind seemed always to be striving to answer. The special objects to -which he applied himself were the workings of political institutions, -the principles of wise legislation, and the sources of national -security and advancement. _Rerum cognoscere causas_,—to know the -causes of things—in all the multiform relations of organized society, -was the constant end of his striving. More than any other one that -has written in English he was a political philosopher. But he was far -more than that. He had a memory of extraordinary grasp and tenacity; -and this, united with a tireless industry, gave him an affluence of -knowledge that has rarely been equalled. He had the fancy of a poet, -and his imagination surveyed the whole range of human experience for -illustrations with which to enrich the train of his thought. - -For the purposes of legislative persuasion many of Burke’s qualities -were a hindrance rather than a help. His course of reasoning was often -too elaborate to be carried in the mind of the hearer. His exuberant -fancy constantly tempted him into illustrative excursions that led the -hearer too far away from the march of the argument. The one thing which -he always found it difficult to do was to restrain the exuberance -of his genius. He could not be straightforward and unadorned. He -carried his wealth with him and displayed it on all occasions. Mr. -Matthew Arnold has very happily characterized this feature of his -mind as “Asiatic.” “He is the only man,” said Johnson, “whose common -conversation corresponds with the general fame which he has in the -world. No man of sense could meet Burke by accident under a gateway to -avoid a shower without being convinced that he was the first man in -England.” - -It is not singular that these characteristics were often thought to -be oppressive. In the House of Commons he sometimes poured forth the -wealth of his knowledge for hour after hour till the members were -burdened and driven out of the House in sheer self-defence. This -peculiarity was well described by the satirist who said: - - “He went on refining, - And thought of convincing when they thought of dining.” - -Erskine, during the delivery of the speech on “Conciliation with -America,” crept out of the House behind the benches on his hands and -knees, and yet afterward wrote that he thought the speech the most -remarkable one of ancient or modern times. - -But this vast superabundance, this superfluity of riches, so oppressive -to the ear of the hearer, must ever be a source of pleasure and profit -to the thoughtful reader. It is safe to say that there is no other -oratory of any language or time that yields so rich a return to the -thoughtful efforts of the genuine student. What Fox said to members of -Parliament in regard to the speech on the “Nabob of Arcot’s debts,” may -be appropriately said with perhaps even greater emphasis to American -students in regard to either of the speeches on American affairs: “Let -gentlemen read this speech by day and meditate on it by night: let them -peruse it again and again, study it, imprint it on their minds, impress -it on their hearts.” After all that has been written, the student -can nowhere find a more correct and comprehensive account of the -causes of the American Revolution than in the speeches on Taxation and -Conciliation. - -Burke’s education had given him peculiar qualifications for discussing -American affairs. These qualifications were both general and special. -At the age of fourteen he entered Trinity College in his native city of -Dublin, where he remained six years, performing not only his regular -college duties, but carrying on a very elaborate course of study -of his own devising. He not only read a greater part of the poets -and orators of antiquity, but he also devoted himself to philosophy -in such a way that his mind took that peculiar bent which made him -ultimately what has been called “the _philosophical_ orator” of the -language. In 1750, when he was twenty, he began the study of law at -the Middle Temple, in London. But his law studies were not congenial -to him; and his great energies, therefore, were chiefly devoted to -the study of what would now be called Political Science. It was at -this period that he acquired that habit which never deserted him of -following out trains of thought to their end, and framing his views on -every subject he investigated into an organized system. He was a very -careful student of Bolingbroke’s works; and such an impression had -this writer’s methods of reasoning made upon him, that when his first -pamphlet, “The Vindication of Natural Society” appeared in 1756, it -was thought by many to be a posthumous work of Bolingbroke himself. -In the same year he astonished the reading world by publishing at -the age of twenty-six, his celebrated philosophical treatise on the -“Sublime and Beautiful.” But the best of his thoughts were given to a -contemplation of the forms and principles of civil society. In 1757 -he prepared and published two volumes on the “European Settlements in -America,” in the course of which, he showed that he had already traced -the character of the Colonial institutions to the spirit of their -ancestors, and to an indomitable love of liberty. While preparing these -volumes his prophetic intelligence came to see the boundless resources -and the irresistible strength that the colonies were soon destined -to attain. Thus more than ten years before the troubles with America -began, Burke had filled his mind with stores of knowledge in regard -to American affairs, and had qualified himself for those marvellous -trains of reasoning with which he came forward when the Stamp Act was -proposed. The very next year after the publication of his treatise -on the American Colonies, he projected the _Annual Register_; a work -which even down to the present day has continued to give a yearly -account of the most important occurrences in all parts of the globe. -The undertaking could hardly have been successful except in the hands -of a man of extraordinary powers. The first volumes were written almost -exclusively by Burke, and the topics discussed as well as the events -described, offered the best of opportunities for the exercise of his -peculiar gifts. So great was the demand for the work that the early -volumes rapidly passed through several editions. The first article in -the first volume is devoted to the relations of the American Colonies -to the mother country; and the preëminence, thus indicated of the -American question in Burke’s mind, continued to be evident till the -outbreak of the Revolution. - -Burke entered Parliament in 1765, and in January, 1766, he delivered -his maiden speech in opposition to the Stamp Act. The effort was -not simply successful,—it showed so much compass and power that -Pitt publicly complimented him as “a very able advocate.” In 1771, -he received the appointment of agent for the Colony of New York, a -position which he continued to hold till the outbreak of the war. Thus, -not only by his general attainments and abilities, but also as the -result of his special application to the subject, he brought to the -discussion of the question qualifications that were unequalled even by -those of Chatham himself. - -Of the speeches delivered by Burke, in all several hundred in number, -only six of the more important ones have been preserved. These were -written out for publication by the orator himself. In point of -compass and variety of thought as well as in lofty declamation and -withering invective it is probable that the most remarkable of all his -efforts was that on the “Nabob of Arcot’s debts.” But it is marked -by the author’s greatest faults as well as by his greatest merits. -For five hours he poured out the pitiless and deluging torrents of -his denunciations; and the reader who now sits down to the task of -mastering the speech is as certain to be wearied by it as were the -members of the House of Commons when it was delivered. The speech -on “Conciliation with America” is marred by fewer blemishes, and -its positive merits are of transcendant importance. That this great -utterance exerted a vast influence on both sides of the Atlantic admits -of no doubt. It is worthy of note, however, that during the greater -part of Burke’s political life he was in the opposition, and that by -those in power, he was regarded as simply what Lord Lauderdale once -called him, “a splendid madman.” To this characterization Fox replied: -“It is difficult to say whether he is mad or inspired, but whether the -one or the other, every one must agree that he is a _prophet_.” And at -a much later period Lord Brougham observed that “All his predictions, -except one momentary expression, have been more than fulfilled.” - - - - -MR. BURKE. - -ON MOVING RESOLUTIONS FOR CONCILIATION WITH AMERICA. HOUSE OF COMMONS, -MARCH 22, 1775. - - - The repeal of the Grenville Stamp Act had not brought a return of - friendly feeling, for the reason that the Commons had preferred to - adopt the policy of George III. instead of the policy of Pitt. The - _right_ to tax America was affirmed in the very act withdrawing the - tax. When Lord North came into power he adopted a weak and fatal - mixture of concession and coercion. After the destruction of the tea - in Boston harbor the policy of coercion became dominant. In 1774, - the Charter of Massachusetts was taken away, and the port of Boston - was closed to all commerce. The British Government labored under the - singular delusion that the inconvenience thus inflicted would bring - the colonies at once to terms. It was boldly said that the question - was merely one of shillings and pence, and that the colonists would - give way as soon as they came to see that their policy entailed a - loss. There were a few who held the opposite ground. On the night of - April 19, 1774, Mr. Fuller moved to go “into Committee of the whole - House to take into consideration the duty of threepence a pound on - tea, payable in all his Majesty’s dominions in America.” It was - understood that the aim of the motion was the repealing of the Act; - and it was in seconding the motion that Mr. Burke made his famous - speech on American taxation. - - But the policy advocated in the speech was voted down by 182 to 49. - Thus the ministry determined to drift on in the old way. It soon - became evident, however, that some change was imperatively necessary. - The method determined upon by Lord North was an insidious scheme - for sowing dissensions among the colonies, and thus breaking that - strength which comes from united action. His plan was to offer that - whenever a colony, in addition to providing for its own government, - should raise a fair proportion for the general defence, and should - place this sum at the disposal of Parliament, that colony should be - exempted from all further taxation, except such duties as might be - necessary for the regulation of commerce. He thus designed to array - the colonies against one another, and so open the way for treating - with them individually. This was put forward by North as a plan for - _conciliation_. While Burke saw clearly the mischief that lurked in - the scheme of the ministry, he was anxious to avail himself of the - _idea of conciliation_; and with this end in view he brought forward - a series of resolutions “to admit the Americans to an equal interest - in the British Constitution, and to place them at once on the footing - of other Englishmen.” It was in moving these resolutions that the - following speech was made. - - The method of treatment by the orator is so elaborate, that a brief - analysis of the argument may be of service. The speech is divided - into two parts: first, Ought we to make concessions? and if so, - secondly, What ought we to concede? Under the first head the orator - enters with surprising minuteness of detail into an examination of - the condition of the colonies. He surveys (1) their population; (2) - their commerce; (3) their agriculture, and (4) their fisheries. - Having thus determined their material condition, he shows that force - cannot hold a people possessing such advantages in subjection to - the mother country, if they are inspired with a spirit of liberty. - He shows that such a spirit prevails, and examining it, he traces - it to six sources: (1) the descent of the people; (2) their forms - of government; (3) the religious principles of the North; (4) - the social institutions of the South; (5) the peculiarities of - their education, and (6) their remoteness from Great Britain. He - then sums up the first part, by showing that it is vain to think - either (1) of removing these causes, or (2) of regarding them as - criminal. Reaching the conclusion then, that conciliation is the - true policy, he proceeds to inquire what this concession should - be. Obviously it should relate to taxation, since taxation is the - cause of the contest. Referring to the earlier history of Ireland, - Durham, Chester, and Wales, he shows that in every case, either - an independent parliament existed, or the territory was admitted - to representation in the English Parliament. He then points out - that direct representation of the colonies is impracticable, and - he shows the evils that would result from the adoption of Lord - North’s scheme. Finally, he reaches the conclusion that Americans - ought to be admitted to the privileges of Englishmen—the privilege - of contributing whatever they grant to the Crown through their own - legislature. To this end he presents six resolutions, with a brief - consideration of which he closes the speech. - - This brief outline is perhaps enough to show that the speech is - remarkable for its logical order, and for its happy grouping of - historical facts. But so far from being a collection of mere matters - of fact, it is enriched from beginning to end with thoughts and - reflections from a brain teeming with ideas on the science of - government. It abounds with passages that have always been greatly - admired, and the train of argument is not interrupted by the - introduction of matter only remotely relevant to the subject in hand. - It may be said therefore to have more of the author’s characteristic - merits, and fewer of his characteristic defects, than any other of - his speeches. Every careful student will probably agree with Sir - James Mackintosh in pronouncing it “the most faultless of Mr. Burke’s - productions.” - - -MR. SPEAKER: - -I hope, sir, that, notwithstanding the austerity of the chair, your -good nature will incline you to some degree of indulgence toward human -frailty.[37] You will not think it unnatural that those who have an -object depending, which strongly engages their hopes and fears, should -be somewhat inclined to superstition. As I came into the House full of -anxiety about the event of my motion, I found, to my infinite surprise, -that the grand penal bill, by which we had passed sentence on the trade -and sustenance of America, is to be returned to us from the other -House.[38] I do confess, I could not help looking on this event as a -fortunate omen. I look upon it as a sort of providential favor, by -which we are put once more in possession of our deliberative capacity, -upon a business so very questionable in its nature, so very uncertain -in its issue. By the return of this bill, which seemed to have taken -its flight forever, we are, at this very instant, nearly as free to -choose a plan for our American government, as we were on the first day -of the session. If, sir, we incline to the side of conciliation, we -are not at all embarrassed (unless we please to make ourselves so) by -any incongruous mixture of coercion and restraint. We are therefore -called upon, as it were by a superior warning voice, again to attend -to America; to attend to the whole of it together; and to review the -subject with an unusual degree of care and calmness. - -Surely it is an awful subject, or there is none so on this side of the -grave. When I first had the honor of a seat in this House, the affairs -of that continent pressed themselves upon us as the most important and -most delicate object of parliamentary attention. My little share in -this great deliberation oppressed me. I found myself a partaker in a -very high trust; and having no sort of reason to rely on the strength -of my natural abilities for the proper execution of that trust, I was -obliged to take more than common pains to instruct myself in every -thing which relates to our colonies. I was not less under the necessity -of forming some fixed ideas concerning the general policy of the -British empire. Something of this sort seemed to be indispensable, -in order, amid so vast a fluctuation of passions and opinions, to -concentre my thoughts; to ballast my conduct; to preserve me from being -blown about by every wind of fashionable doctrine. I really did not -think it safe or manly, to have fresh principles to seek upon every -fresh mail which should arrive from America. - -At that period I had the fortune to find myself in perfect concurrence -with a large majority in this House.[39] Bowing under that high -authority, and penetrated with the sharpness and strength of that early -impression, I have continued ever since in my original sentiments -without the least deviation. Whether this be owing to an obstinate -perseverance in error, or to a religious adherence to what appears to -me truth and reason, it is in your equity to judge. - -Sir, Parliament having an enlarged view of objects, made, during this -interval, more frequent changes in their sentiment and their conduct -than could be justified in a particular person upon the contracted -scale of private information. But though I do not hazard any thing -approaching to a censure on the motives of former Parliaments to all -those alterations, one fact is undoubted—that under them the state of -America has been kept in continual agitation. Everything administered -as remedy to the public complaint, if it did not produce, was at least -followed by, a heightening of the distemper; until, by a variety of -experiments, that important country has been brought into her present -situation—a situation which I will not miscall, which I dare not name, -which I scarcely know how to comprehend in the terms of any description. - -In this posture, sir, things stood at the beginning of the session. -About that time, a worthy member of great parliamentary experience, -who, in the year 1766, filled the chair of the American committee with -much ability, took me aside, and, lamenting the present aspect of our -politics, told me things were come to such a pass that our former -methods of proceeding in the House would be no longer tolerated. That -the public tribunal (never too indulgent to a long and unsuccessful -opposition) would now scrutinize our conduct with unusual severity. -That the very vicissitudes and shiftings of ministerial measures, -instead of convicting their authors of inconstancy and want of system, -would be taken as an occasion of charging us with a predetermined -discontent, which nothing could satisfy; while we accused every measure -of vigor as cruel, and every proposal of lenity as weak and irresolute. -The public, he said, would not have patience to see us play the -game out with our adversaries: we must produce our hand. It would -be expected that those who, for many years, had been active in such -affairs, should show that they had formed some clear and decided idea -of the principles of colony government, and were capable of drawing out -something like a platform of the ground which might be laid for future -and permanent tranquillity. - -I felt the truth of what my honorable friend represented, but I felt my -situation too. His application might have been made with far greater -propriety to many other gentlemen. No man was, indeed, ever better -disposed or worse qualified for such an undertaking than myself. Though -I gave so far into his opinion that I immediately threw my thoughts -into a sort of parliamentary form, I was by no means equally ready to -produce them. It generally argues some degree of natural impotence -of mind, or some want of knowledge of the world, to hazard plans of -government, except from a seat of authority.[40] Propositions are made, -not only ineffectually, but somewhat disreputably, when the minds of -men are not properly disposed for their reception; and, for my part, I -am not ambitious of ridicule—not absolutely a candidate for disgrace. - -Besides, sir, to speak the plain truth, I have in general no very -exalted opinion of the virtue of paper government, nor of any politics -in which the plan is to be wholly separated from the execution. But -when I saw that anger and violence prevailed every day more and more, -and that things were hastening toward an incurable alienation of our -colonies, I confess my caution gave way. I felt this as one of those -few moments in which decorum yields to a higher duty. Public calamity -is a mighty leveller, and there are occasions when any, even the -slightest, chance of doing good, must be laid hold on, even by the most -inconsiderable person. - -To restore order and repose to an empire so great and so distracted as -ours, is merely in the attempt an undertaking that would ennoble the -flights of the highest genius, and obtain pardon for the efforts of the -meanest understanding. Struggling a good while with these thoughts, by -degrees I felt myself more firm. I derived, at length, some confidence -from what in other circumstances usually produces timidity. I grew less -anxious, even from the idea of my own insignificance. For, judging of -what you are by what you ought to be, I persuaded myself that you -would not reject a reasonable proposition because it had nothing but -its reason to recommend it. On the other hand, being totally destitute -of all shadow of influence, natural or adventitious, I was very sure -that if my proposition were futile or dangerous—if it were weakly -conceived or improperly timed, there was nothing exterior to it of -power to awe, dazzle, or delude you. You will see it just as it is, and -you will treat it just as it deserves. - -The PROPOSITION is peace.[41] Not peace through the medium of war; -not peace to be hunted through the labyrinth of intricate and endless -negotiations; not peace to arise out of universal discord, fomented -from principle, in all parts of the empire; not peace to depend on -the juridical determination of perplexing questions, or the precise -marking the shadowy boundaries of a complex government. It is simple -peace, sought in its natural course and its ordinary haunts. It is -peace sought in the spirit of peace, and laid in principles purely -pacific. I propose, by removing the ground of the difference, and by -restoring _the former unsuspecting confidence of the colonies in the -mother country_,[42] to give permanent satisfaction to your people; -and, far from a scheme of ruling by discord, to reconcile them to each -other in the same act, and by the bond of the very same interest, which -reconciles them to British government. - -My idea is nothing more. Refined policy ever has been the parent of -confusion, and ever will be so as long as the world endures. Plain good -intention, which is as easily discovered at the first view as fraud -is surely detected at last, is (let me say) of no mean force in the -government of mankind. Genuine simplicity of heart is a healing and -cementing principle. My plan, therefore, being formed upon the most -simple grounds imaginable, may disappoint some people when they hear -it. It has nothing to recommend it to the pruriency of curious ears. -There is nothing at all new and captivating in it. It has nothing -of the splendor of the project which has been lately laid upon your -table by the noble Lord in the blue ribbon.[43] It does not propose to -fill your lobby with squabbling colony agents, who will require the -interposition of your mace at every instant to keep the peace among -them. It does not institute a magnificent auction of finance, where -captivated provinces come to general ransom by bidding against each -other, until you knock down the hammer, and determine a proportion of -payments beyond all the powers of algebra to equalize and settle. - -The plan which I shall presume to suggest derives, however, one great -advantage from the proposition and registry of that noble Lord’s -project. The idea of conciliation is admissible. First, the House, -in accepting the resolution moved by the noble Lord, has admitted, -notwithstanding the menacing front of our address,[44] notwithstanding -our heavy bill of pains and penalties, that we do not think ourselves -precluded from all ideas of free grace and bounty. - -The House has gone farther; it has declared conciliation admissible, -_previous_ to any submission on the part of America. It has even shot -a good deal beyond that mark, and has admitted that the complaints -of our former mode of exerting the right of taxation were not wholly -unfounded. That right, thus exerted, is allowed to have had something -reprehensible in it, something unwise, or something grievous; since, in -the midst of our heat and resentment, we, of ourselves, have proposed -a capital alteration, and, in order to get rid of what seemed so very -exceptionable, have instituted a mode that is altogether new; one that -is, indeed, wholly alien from all the ancient methods and forms of -Parliament. - -The _principle_ of this proceeding is large enough for my purpose. The -means proposed by the noble Lord for carrying his ideas into execution, -I think, indeed, are very indifferently suited to the end; and this I -shall endeavor to show you before I sit down. But, for the present, I -take my ground on the admitted principle. I mean to give peace. Peace -implies reconciliation; and, where there has been a material dispute, -reconciliation does in a manner always imply concession on the one -part or on the other. In this state of things I make no difficulty -in affirming that the proposal ought to originate from us. Great and -acknowledged force is not impaired, either in effect or in opinion, by -an unwillingness to exert itself. The superior power may offer peace -with honor and with safety. Such an offer from such a power will be -attributed to magnanimity. But the concessions of the weak are the -concessions of fear. When such a one is disarmed, he is wholly at the -mercy of his superior, and he loses forever that time and those chances -which, as they happen to all men, are the strength and resources of all -inferior power. - -The capital leading questions on which you must this day decide, are -these two: _First, whether you ought to concede; and, secondly, what -your concession ought to be_. - -On the first of these questions we have gained, as I have just taken -the liberty of observing to you, some ground. But I am sensible that -a good deal more is still to be done. Indeed, sir, to enable us to -determine both on the one and the other of these great questions with -a firm and precise judgment, I think it may be necessary to consider -distinctly. - -The true _nature_ and the peculiar _circumstances_ of the object which -we have before us; because, after all our struggle, whether we will -or not, we must govern America according to that nature and to those -circumstances, and not according to our imaginations; not according to -abstract ideas of right; by no means according to mere general theories -of government, the resort to which appears to me, in our present -situation, no better than arrant trifling. I shall therefore endeavor, -with your leave, to lay before you some of the most material of these -circumstances in as full and as clear a manner as I am able to state -them. - -(1) The first thing that we have to consider with regard to the -nature of the object, is the number of people in the colonies. I have -taken for some years a good deal of pains on that point. I can by no -calculation justify myself in placing the number below two millions -of inhabitants of our own European blood and color, besides at least -five hundred thousand others, who form no inconsiderable part of the -strength and opulence of the whole. This, sir, is, I believe, about -the true number. There is no occasion to exaggerate, where plain truth -is of so much weight and importance. But whether I put the present -numbers too high or too low, is a matter of little moment. Such is the -strength with which population shoots in that part of the world, that, -state the numbers as high as we will, while the dispute continues, the -exaggeration ends. While we are discussing any given magnitude, they -are grown to it. While we spend our time in deliberating on the mode -of governing two millions, we shall find we have two millions more -to manage. Your children do not grow faster from infancy to manhood, -than they spread from families to communities, and from villages to -nations.[45] - -I put this consideration of the present and the growing numbers in -the front of our deliberation; because, sir, this consideration will -make it evident to a blunter discernment than yours, that no partial, -narrow, contracted, pinched, occasional system will be at all suitable -to such an object. It will show you that it is not to be considered as -one of those _minima_[46] which are out of the eye and consideration of -the law; not a paltry excrescence of the state; not a mean dependent, -who may be neglected with little damage, and provoked with little -danger. It will prove that some degree of care and caution is required -in the handling such an object; it will show that you ought not, in -reason, to trifle with so large a mass of the interests and feelings -of the human race. You could at no time do so without guilt; and, be -assured, you will not be able to do it long with impunity. - -But the population of this country, the great and growing population, -though a very important consideration, will lose much of its weight, if -not combined with other circumstances. The commerce of your colonies is -out of all proportion beyond the numbers of the people. This ground of -their commerce, indeed, has been trod some days ago, and with great -ability, by a distinguished person at your bar.[47] This gentleman, -after thirty-five years—it is so long since he appeared at the same -place to plead for the commerce of Great Britain—has come again before -you to plead the same cause, without any other effect of time, than -that, to the fire of imagination and extent of erudition which even -then marked him as one of the first literary characters of his age, -he has added a consummate knowledge in the commercial interest of his -country, formed by a long course of enlightened and discriminating -experience. - -Sir, I should be inexcusable in coming after such a person with any -detail, if a great part of the members who now fill the House had not -the misfortune to be absent when he appeared at your bar. Besides, sir, -I propose to take the matter at periods of time somewhat different from -his. There is, if I mistake not, a point of view, from whence, if you -will look at this subject, it is impossible that it should not make an -impression upon you. - -I have in my hand two accounts: one a comparative state of the export -trade of England to its colonies as it stood in the year 1704, and as -it stood in the year 1772; the other a state of the export trade of -this country to its colonies alone, as it stood in 1772, compared with -the whole trade of England to all parts of the world, the colonies -included, in the year 1704. They are from good vouchers; the latter -period from the accounts on your table, the earlier from an original -manuscript of Davenant, who first established the inspector general’s -office, which has been ever since his time so abundant a source of -parliamentary information.[48] - -The export trade to the colonies consists of three great branches: the -African, which, terminating almost wholly in the colonies, must be -put to the account of their commerce; the West Indian, and the North -American. All these are so interwoven, that the attempt to separate -them would tear to pieces the contexture of the whole, and, if not -entirely destroy, would very much depreciate the value of all the -parts. I therefore consider these three denominations to be, what in -effect they are, one trade. - -The trade to the colonies, taken on the export side, at the beginning -of this century, that is, in the year 1704, stood thus: - - Exports to North America and the West Indies £483,265 - To Africa 86,665 - -------- - £569,930 - -In the year 1772, which I take as a middle year between the highest and -lowest of those lately laid on your table, the account was as follows: - - To North America and the West Indies £4,791,734 - To Africa 866,398 - To which, if you add the export trade from - Scotland, which had in 1704 no existence 364,000 - ---------- - £6,022,132 - -From five hundred and odd thousand, it has grown to six millions. -It has increased no less than twelve-fold. This is the state of the -colony trade, as compared with itself at these two periods, within -this century; and this is matter for meditation. But this is not all. -Examine my second account. See how the export trade to the colonies -alone in 1772 stood in the other point of view, that is, as compared to -the whole trade of England in 1704. - - The whole export trade of England, including - that to the colonies, in 1704 £6,509,000 - Exported to the colonies alone, in 1772 6,024,000 - ---------- - Difference £485,000 - -The trade with America alone is now within less than £500,000 of -being equal to what this great commercial nation, England, carried -on at the beginning of this century with the whole world! If I had -taken the largest year of those on your table, it would rather have -exceeded. But, it will be said, is not this American trade an unnatural -protuberance, that has drawn the juices from the rest of the body? The -reverse. It is the very food that has nourished every other part into -its present magnitude. Our general trade has been greatly augmented, -and augmented more or less in almost every part to which it ever -extended, but with this material difference, that of the six millions -which in the beginning of the century constituted the whole mass of -our export commerce, the colony trade was but one twelfth part; it is -now (as a part of sixteen millions) considerably more than a third of -the whole. This is the relative proportion of the importance of the -colonies of these two periods; and all reasoning concerning our mode -of treating them must have this proportion as its basis, or it is a -reasoning weak, rotten, and sophistical.[49] - -Mr. Speaker, I cannot prevail on myself to hurry over this great -consideration. It is good for us to be here. We stand where we have -an immense view of what is, and what is past. Clouds, indeed, and -darkness, rest upon the future. Let us, however, before we descend -from this noble eminence, reflect that this growth of our national -prosperity has happened within the short period of the life of man. -It has happened within sixty-eight years. There are those alive whose -memory might touch the two extremities. For instance, my Lord Bathurst -might remember all the stages of the progress. He was in 1704 of an age -at least to be made to comprehend such things. He was then old enough -“_acta parentum jam legere et quæ sit poterit cognoscere virtus_.”[50] -Suppose, sir, that the angel of this auspicious youth, foreseeing the -many virtues which made him one of the most amiable, as he is one of -the most fortunate men of his age, had opened to him in vision, that -when, in the fourth generation, the third prince of the House of -Brunswick had sat twelve years on the throne of that nation, which, -by the happy issue of moderate and healing councils, was to be made -Great Britain, he should see his son, Lord Chancellor of England, turn -back the current of hereditary dignity to its fountain, and raise -him to a higher rank of peerage, while he enriched the family with -a new one. If, amid these bright and happy scenes of domestic honor -and prosperity, that angel should have drawn up the curtain, and -unfolded the rising glories of his country, and while he was gazing -with admiration on the then commercial grandeur of England, the genius -should point out to him a little speck, scarce visible in the mass of -the national interest, a small seminal principle rather than a formed -body, and should tell him: “Young man, there is America—which at this -day serves for little more than to amuse you with stories of savage men -and uncouth manners; yet shall, before you taste death, show itself -equal to the whole of that commerce which now attracts the envy of the -world. Whatever England has been growing to by a progressive increase -of improvement, brought in by varieties of people, by succession -of civilizing conquests and civilizing settlements in a series of -seventeen hundred years, you shall see as much added to her by America -in the course of a single life!” If this state of his country had been -foretold to him, would it not require all the sanguine credulity of -youth, and all the fervid glow of enthusiasm, to make him believe it? -Fortunate man, he has lived to see it! Fortunate indeed, if he lived to -see nothing to vary the prospect and cloud the setting of his day! - -Excuse me, sir, if, turning from such thoughts, I resume this -comparative view once more. You have seen it on a large scale; look -at it on a small one. I will point out to your attention a particular -instance of it in the single province of Pennsylvania. In the year 1704 -that province called for £11,459 value of your commodities, native and -foreign. This was the whole. What did it demand in 1772? Why nearly -fifty times as much; for in that year the export to Pennsylvania was -£507,909, nearly equal to the export to all the colonies together in -the first period. - -I choose, sir, to enter into these minute and particular details, -because generalities, which, in all other cases are apt to heighten and -raise the subject, have here a tendency to sink it. When we speak of -the commerce with our colonies, fiction lags after truth; invention is -unfruitful, and imagination cold and barren. - -So far, sir, as to the importance of the object in the view of its -commerce, as concerned in the exports from England. If I were to detail -the imports, I could show how many enjoyments they procure, which -deceive the burden of life; how many materials which invigorate the -springs of national industry, and extend and animate every part of our -foreign and domestic commerce. This would be a curious subject indeed; -but I must prescribe bounds to myself in a matter so vast and various. - -(3) I pass, therefore, to the colonies in another point of view—their -agriculture. This they have prosecuted with such a spirit, that, -besides feeding plentifully their own growing multitude, their annual -export of grain, comprehending rice, has, some years ago, exceeded a -million in value. Of their last harvest I am persuaded they will export -much more. At the beginning of the century, some of these colonies -imported corn from the mother country. For some time past the old world -has been fed from the new. The scarcity which you have felt would have -been a desolating famine, if this child of your old age, with a true -filial piety, with a Roman charity, had not put the full breast of its -youthful exuberance to the mouth of its exhausted parent.[51] - -As to the wealth which the colonies have drawn from the sea by their -fisheries, you had all that matter fully opened at your bar. You surely -thought those acquisitions of value, for they seemed even to excite -your envy; and yet, the spirit by which that enterprising employment -has been exercised, ought rather, in my opinion, to have raised your -esteem and admiration. And pray, sir, what in the world is equal to -it? Pass by the other parts, and look at the manner in which the -people of New England have of late carried on the whale fishery. While -we follow them among the tumbling mountains of ice, and behold them -penetrating into the deepest frozen recesses of Hudson’s Bay and Davis’ -Straits—while we are looking for them beneath the arctic circle, we -hear that they have pierced into the opposite region of polar cold—that -they are at the antipodes, and engaged under the frozen Serpent of the -south. Falkland Island, which seemed too remote and romantic an object -for the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and resting-place -in the progress of their victorious industry. Nor is the equinoctial -heat more discouraging to them than the accumulated winter of both the -poles. We know that while some of them draw the line, and strike the -harpoon on the coast of Africa, others run the longitude, and pursue -their gigantic game along the coast of Brazil. No sea but what is vexed -by their fisheries. No climate that is not witness to their toils. -Neither the perseverance of Holland, nor the activity of France, nor -the dexterous and firm sagacity of English enterprise, ever carried -this most perilous mode of hardy industry to the extent to which it has -been pushed by this recent people—a people who are still, as it were, -but in the gristle, and not yet hardened into the bone of manhood. When -I contemplate these things—when I know that the colonies in general owe -little or nothing to any care of ours, and that they are not squeezed -into this happy form by the constraints of watchful and suspicious -government, but that, through a wise and salutary neglect, a generous -nature has been suffered to take her own way to perfection—when I -reflect upon these effects—when I see how profitable they have been -to us, I feel all the pride of power sink, and all presumption in the -wisdom of human contrivances melt, and die away within me. My rigor -relents. I pardon something to the spirit of liberty.[52] - -I am sensible, sir, that all which I have asserted in my detail is -admitted in the gross; but that quite a different conclusion is drawn -from it. America, gentlemen say, is a noble object. It is an object -well worth fighting for. Certainly it is, if fighting a people be the -best way of gaining them. Gentlemen in this respect will be led to -their choice of means by their complexions and their habits. Those who -understand the military art will, of course, have some predilection for -it. Those who wield the thunder of the State may have more confidence -in the efficacy of arms. But I confess, possibly for want of this -knowledge, my opinion is much more in favor of prudent management than -of force; considering force not as an odious, but a feeble, instrument -for preserving a people so numerous, so active, so growing, so spirited -as this, in a profitable and subordinate connection with us. - -First, sir, permit me to observe, that the use of force alone is but -_temporary_. It may subdue for a moment, but it does not remove the -necessity of subduing again; and a nation is not governed which is -perpetually to be conquered. - -My next objection is its _uncertainty_. Terror is not always the effect -of force; and an armament is not a victory. If you do not succeed, -you are without resource; for, conciliation failing, force remains; -but, force failing, no farther hope of reconciliation is left. Power -and authority are sometimes bought by kindness, but they can never be -begged as alms by an impoverished and defeated violence. - -A farther objection to force is, that you _impair the object_ by your -very endeavors to preserve it. The thing you fought for is not the -thing which you recover; but depreciated, sunk, wasted, and consumed -in the contest. Nothing less will content me than _whole_ America. I -do not choose to consume its strength along with our own, because in -all parts it is the British strength that I consume. I do not choose to -be caught by a foreign enemy at the end of this exhausting conflict, -and still less in the midst of it. I may escape; but I can make no -insurance against such an event. Let me add, that I do not choose -wholly to break the American spirit, because it is the spirit that has -made the country. - -Lastly, we have no sort of _experience_ in favor of force as an -instrument in the rule of our colonies. Their growth and their utility -have been owing to methods altogether different. Our ancient indulgence -has been said to be pursued to a fault. It may be so; but we know, if -feeling is evidence, that our fault was more tolerable than our attempt -to mend it; and our sin far more salutary than our penitence. - -These, sir, are my reasons for not entertaining that high opinion of -untried force, by which many gentlemen, for whose sentiments in other -particulars I have great respect, seem to be so greatly captivated. - -But there is still behind a third consideration concerning this object, -which serves to determine my opinion on the sort of policy which -ought to be pursued in the management of America, even more than its -population and its commerce—I mean its temper and character. In this -character of the Americans _a love of freedom_ is the predominating -feature, which marks and distinguishes the whole; and, as an ardent is -always a jealous affection, your colonies become suspicious, restive, -and untractable, whenever they see the least attempt to wrest from them -by force, or shuffle from them by chicane, what they think the only -advantage worth living for. This fierce spirit of liberty is stronger -in the English colonies, probably, than in any other people of the -earth, and this from a variety of powerful causes, which, to understand -the true temper of their minds, and the direction which this spirit -takes, it will not be amiss to lay open somewhat more largely. - -First, the people of the colonies are descendants of Englishmen. -England, sir, is a nation which still, I hope, respects, and formerly -adored her freedom. The colonists emigrated from you when this part of -your character was most predominant[53]; and they took this bias and -direction the moment they parted from your hands. They are, therefore, -not only devoted to liberty, but to liberty according to English -ideas and on English principles. Abstract liberty, like other mere -abstractions, is not to be found. Liberty inheres in some sensible -object; and every nation has formed to itself some favorite point -which, by way of eminence, becomes the criterion of their happiness. -It happened you know, sir, that the great contests for freedom in -this country were, from the earliest times chiefly upon the question -of taxing. Most of the contests in the ancient commonwealths turned -primarily on the right of election of magistrates, or on the balance -among the several orders of the State. The question of money was not -with them so immediate. But in England it was otherwise. On this point -of taxes the ablest pens and most eloquent tongues have been exercised; -the greatest spirits have acted and suffered. In order to give the -fullest satisfaction concerning the importance of this point, it was -not only necessary for those who in argument defended the excellence -of the English Constitution, to insist on this privilege of granting -money as a dry point of fact, and to prove that the right had been -acknowledged in ancient parchments and blind usages to reside in a -certain body called the House of Commons. They went much farther: -they attempted to prove (and they succeeded) that in theory it ought -to be so, from the particular nature of a House of Commons, as an -immediate representative of the people, whether the old records had -delivered this oracle or not. They took infinite pains to inculcate, -as a fundamental principle, that, in all monarchies, the people must, -in effect, themselves, mediately or immediately, possess the power of -granting their own money, or no shadow of liberty could subsist. The -colonies draw from you, as with their life-blood, those ideas and -principles. Their love of liberty, as with you, fixed and attached -on this specific point of taxing. Liberty might be safe or might be -endangered in twenty other particulars, without their being much -pleased or alarmed. Here they felt its pulse, and, as they found that -beat, they thought themselves sick or sound. I do not say whether -they were right or wrong in applying your general arguments to their -own case. It is not easy, indeed, to make a monopoly of theorems and -corollaries. The fact is, that they did thus apply those general -arguments; and your mode of governing them, whether through lenity or -indolence, through wisdom or mistake, confirmed them in the imagination -that they, as well as you, had an interest in these common principles. - -They were further confirmed in these pleasing errors by the form -of their provincial legislative assemblies. Their governments are -popular in a high degree; some are merely popular; in all, the popular -representative is the most weighty;[54] and this share of the people -in their ordinary government never fails to inspire them with lofty -sentiments, and with a strong aversion from whatever tends to deprive -them of their chief importance. - -If any thing were wanting to this necessary operation of the form of -government, religion would have given it a complete effect. Religion, -always a principle of energy, in this new people is no way worn out or -impaired; and their mode of professing it is also one main cause of -this free spirit. The people are Protestants; and of that kind which is -the most averse to all implicit submission of mind and opinion. This -is a persuasion not only favorable to liberty, but built upon it. I do -not think, sir, that the reason of this averseness in the dissenting -churches from all that looks like absolute government, is so much to be -sought in their religious tenets as in their history. Everyone knows -that the Roman Catholic religion is at least coeval with most of the -governments where it prevails; that it has generally gone hand in hand -with them; and received great favor and every kind of support from -authority. The Church of England, too, was formed from her cradle under -the nursing care of regular government. But the dissenting interests -have sprung up in direct opposition to all the ordinary powers of -the world, and could justify that opposition only on a strong claim -to natural liberty. Their very existence depended on the powerful -and unremitted assertion of that claim. All Protestantism, even the -most cold and passive, is a kind of dissent. But the religion most -prevalent in our northern colonies is a refinement on the principle -of resistance; it is the dissidence of dissent; and the Protestantism -of the Protestant religion. This religion, under a variety of -denominations, agreeing in nothing but in the communion of the spirit -of liberty, is predominant in most of the northern provinces; where -the Church of England, notwithstanding its legal rights, is in reality -no more than a sort of private sect, not composing, most probably, the -tenth of the people. The colonists left England when this spirit was -high, and in the emigrants was the highest of all; and even that stream -of foreigners, which has been constantly flowing into these colonies, -has, for the greatest part, been composed of dissenters from the -establishments of their several countries, and have brought with them -a temper and character far from alien to that of the people with whom -they mixed. - -Sir, I can perceive by their manner that some gentlemen object to the -latitude of this description, because in the southern colonies the -Church of England forms a large body, and has a regular establishment. -It is certainly true. There is, however, a circumstance attending these -colonies, which, in my opinion, fully counterbalances this difference, -and makes the spirit of liberty still more high and haughty than in -those to the northward. It is that in Virginia and the Carolinas they -have a vast multitude of _slaves_. Where this is the case in any part -of the world, those who are free are by far the most proud and jealous -of their freedom. Freedom is to them not only an enjoyment, but a kind -of rank and privilege. Not seeing there that freedom, as in countries -where it is a common blessing, and as broad and general as the air, -may be united with much abject toil, with great misery, with all the -exterior of servitude, liberty looks, among them, like something that -is more noble and liberal. I do not mean, sir, to commend the superior -morality of this sentiment, which has at least as much pride as virtue -in it; but I cannot alter the nature of man. The fact is so; and these -people of the southern colonies are much more strongly, and with a -higher and more stubborn spirit, attached to liberty than those to the -northward. Such were all the ancient commonwealths; such were our -Gothic ancestors; such, in our days, were the Poles, and such will be -all masters of slaves, who are not slaves themselves. In such a people -the haughtiness of domination combines with the spirit of freedom, -fortifies it, and renders it invincible. - -Permit me, sir, to add another circumstance in our colonies, which -contributes no mean part toward the growth and effect of this -untractable spirit—I mean their _education_. In no country perhaps -in the world is the law so general a study. The profession itself is -numerous and powerful; and in most provinces it takes the lead. The -greater number of the deputies sent to Congress were lawyers. But all -who read, and most do read, endeavor to obtain some smattering in that -science. I have been told by an eminent bookseller, that in no branch -of his business, after tracts of popular devotion, were so many books -as those on the law exported to the Plantations. The colonists have -now fallen into the way of printing them for their own use. I hear -that they have sold nearly as many of Blackstone’s Commentaries in -America as in England. General Gage marks out this disposition very -particularly in a letter on your table. He states that all the people -in his government are lawyers, or smatterers in law; and that in Boston -they have been enabled, by successful chicane,[55] wholly to evade many -parts of one of your capital penal constitutions. The smartness of -debate will say that this knowledge ought to teach them more clearly -the rights of legislature, their obligations to obedience, and the -penalties of rebellion. All this is mighty well. But my honorable and -learned friend [the Attorney-General, afterward Lord Thurlow] on the -floor, who condescends to mark what I say for animadversion, will -disdain that ground. He has heard, as well as I, that when great honors -and great emoluments do not win over this knowledge to the service of -the State, it is a formidable adversary to government. If the spirit -be not tamed and broken by these happy methods, it is stubborn and -litigious. _Abeunt studia in mores._ This study renders men acute, -inquisitive, dexterous, prompt in attack, ready in defence, full of -resources. In other countries, the people, more simple and of a less -mercurial cast, judge of an ill principle in government only by an -actual grievance. Here they anticipate the evil, and judge of the -pressure of the grievance by the badness of the principle. They augur -misgovernment at a distance; and snuff the approach of tyranny in -every tainted breeze. - -The last cause of this disobedient spirit in the colonies is hardly -less powerful than the rest, as it is not merely moral, but laid deep -in the natural constitution of things. Three thousand miles of ocean -lie between you and them. No contrivance can prevent the effect of this -distance in weakening government. Seas roll and months pass between -the order and the execution; and the want of a speedy explanation of a -single point is enough to defeat the whole system. You have, indeed, -“winged ministers” of vengeance, who carry your bolts in their pouches -to the remotest verge of the sea.[56] But there a power steps in that -limits the arrogance of raging passion and furious elements, and says: -“So far shalt thou go, and no farther.” Who are you, that should fret -and rage, and bite the chains of nature? Nothing worse happens to you -than does to all nations who have extensive empire; and it happens in -all the forms into which empire can be thrown. In large bodies the -circulation of power must be less vigorous at the extremities. Nature -has said it. The Turk cannot govern Egypt, and Arabia, and Koordistan -as he governs Thrace; nor has he the same dominion in Crimea and -Algiers which he has at Broosa and Smyrna. Despotism itself is obliged -to truck and huckster. The Sultan gets such obedience as he can. He -governs with a loose rein, that he may govern at all; and the whole -of the force and vigor of his authority in his centre is derived from -a prudent relaxation in all his borders. Spain, in her provinces, is, -perhaps, not so well obeyed as you are in yours. She complies too; -she submits; she watches times. This is the immutable condition, the -eternal law, of extensive and detached empire. - -Then, sir, from these six capital sources of descent, of form of -government, of religion in the northern provinces, of manners in the -southern, of education, of the remoteness of situation from the first -mover of government—from all these causes a fierce spirit of liberty -has grown up. It has grown with the growth of the people in your -colonies, and increased with the increase of their wealth; a spirit -that, unhappily meeting with an exercise of power in England, which, -however lawful, is not reconcilable to any ideas of liberty, much less -with theirs, has kindled this flame, that is ready to consume us. - -I do not mean to commend either the spirit in this excess, or the -moral causes which produce it. Perhaps a more smooth and accommodating -spirit of freedom in them would be more acceptable to us. Perhaps -ideas of liberty might be desired, more reconcilable with an arbitrary -and boundless authority. Perhaps we might wish the colonists to be -persuaded that their liberty is more secure when held in trust for -them by us, as guardians during a perpetual minority, than with any -part of it in their own hands. But the question is not whether their -spirit deserves praise or blame. What, in the name of God, shall we -do with it? You have before you the object, such as it is, with all -its glories, with all its imperfections on its head. You see the -magnitude, the importance, the temper, the habits, the disorders. By -all these considerations we are strongly urged to determine something -concerning it. We are called upon to fix some rule and line for our -future conduct, which may give a little stability to our politics, -and prevent the return of such unhappy deliberations as the present. -Every such return will bring the matter before us in a still more -untractable form. For, what astonishing and incredible things have we -not seen already? What monsters have not been generated from this -unnatural contention? While every principle of authority and resistance -has been pushed upon both sides, as far as it would go, there is -nothing so solid and certain, either in reasoning or in practice, that -it has not been shaken. Until very lately, all authority in America -seemed to be nothing but an emanation from yours. Even the popular -part of the colony constitution derived all its activity, and its -first vital movement, from the pleasure of the Crown. We thought, sir, -that the utmost which the discontented colonists could do, was to -disturb authority. We never dreamed they could of themselves supply -it, knowing in general what an operose business it is to establish -a government absolutely new. But having, for our purposes in this -contention, resolved that none but an obedient assembly should sit, -the humors of the people there, finding all passage through the legal -channel stopped, with great violence broke out another way. Some -provinces have tried their experiment, as we have tried ours; and -theirs has succeeded. They have formed a government sufficient for -its purposes, without the bustle of a revolution, or the troublesome -formality of an election. Evident necessity and tacit consent have -done the business in an instant. So well they have done it, that Lord -Dunmore (the account is among the fragments on your table) tells you, -that the new institution is infinitely better obeyed than the ancient -government ever was in its most fortunate periods. Obedience is what -makes government, and not the names by which it is called; not the -name of governor, as formerly, or committee, as at present. This -new government has originated directly from the people, and was not -transmitted through any of the ordinary artificial media of a positive -constitution. It was not a manufacture ready formed, and transmitted -to them in that condition from England. The evil arising from hence is -this: that the colonists having once found the possibility of enjoying -the advantages of order in the midst of a struggle for liberty, such -struggles will not henceforward seem so terrible to the settled and -sober part of mankind as they had appeared before the trial. - -Pursuing the same plan of punishing by the denial of the exercise of -government to still greater lengths, we wholly abrogated the ancient -government of Massachusetts. We were confident that the first feeling, -if not the very prospect of anarchy, would instantly enforce a complete -submission. The experiment was tried. A new, strange, unexpected -face of things appeared. Anarchy is found tolerable. A vast province -has now subsisted, and subsisted in a considerable degree of health -and vigor, for near a twelvemonth, without governor, without public -council, without judges, without executive magistrates. How long it -will continue in this state, or what may arise out of this unheard-of -situation, how can the wisest of us conjecture? Our late experience has -taught us, that many of those fundamental principles, formerly believed -infallible, are either not of the importance they were imagined to be, -or that we have not at all adverted to some other far more important -and far more powerful principles, which entirely overrule those we had -considered as omnipotent. I am much against any farther experiments, -which tend to put to the proof any more of these allowed opinions, -which contribute so much to the public tranquillity. In effect, -we suffer as much at home by this loosening of all ties, and this -concussion of all established opinions, as we do abroad. For, in order -to prove that the Americans have no right to their liberties, we are -every day endeavoring to subvert the maxims which preserve the whole -spirit of our own. To prove that the Americans ought not to be free, -we are obliged to depreciate the value of freedom itself; and we never -seem to gain a paltry advantage over them in debate, without attacking -some of those principles, or deriding some of those feelings, for which -our ancestors have shed their blood. - -But, sir, in wishing to put an end to pernicious experiments, I do not -mean to preclude the fullest inquiry. Far from it. Far from deciding -on a sudden or partial view, I would patiently go round and round the -subject, and survey it minutely in every possible aspect. Sir, if I -were capable of engaging you to an equal attention, I would state -that, as far as I am capable of discerning, there are but three ways -of proceeding relative to this stubborn spirit which prevails in your -colonies and disturbs your government. These are, to change that -spirit, as inconvenient, by removing the causes; to prosecute it as -criminal; or to comply with it as necessary. I would not be guilty -of an imperfect enumeration. I can think of but these three. Another -has, indeed, been started—that of giving up the colonies; but it met -so slight a reception, that I do not think myself obliged to dwell a -great while upon it. It is nothing but a little sally of anger, like -the frowardness of peevish children, who, when they cannot get all they -would have, are resolved to take nothing. - -The _first_ of these plans, to change the spirit, as inconvenient, -by removing the causes, I think is the most like a systematic -proceeding. It is radical in its principle, but it is attended with -great difficulties, some of them little short, as I conceive, of -impossibilities. This will appear by examining into the plans which -have been proposed. - -As the growing population of the colonies is evidently one cause of -their resistance, it was last session mentioned in both Houses by men -of weight, and received, not without applause, that, in order to check -this evil, it would be proper for the Crown to make no farther grants -of land. But to this scheme there are two objections. The first, that -there is already so much unsettled land in private hands as to afford -room for an immense future population, although the Crown not only -withheld its grants, but annihilated its soil. If this be the case, -then the only effect of this avarice of desolation, this hoarding of a -royal wilderness, would be to raise the value of the possessions in the -hands of the great private monopolists without any adequate check to -the growing and alarming mischief of population. - -But if you stopped your grants, what would be the consequence? The -people would occupy without grants. They have already so occupied -in many places. You cannot station garrisons in every part of these -deserts. If you drive the people from one place, they will carry -on their annual tillage, and remove with their flocks and herds to -another. Many of the people in the back settlements are already -little attached to particular situations. Already they have topped -the Apalachian Mountains.[57] From thence they behold before them an -immense plain, one vast, rich, level meadow—a square of five hundred -miles. Over this they would wander without a possibility of restraint. -They would change their manners with the habits of their life; would -soon forget a government by which they were disowned; would become -hordes of English Tartars; and, pouring down upon your unfortified -frontiers a fierce and irresistible cavalry, become masters of your -governors and your counsellors, your collectors and controllers, and -of all the slaves that adhered to them. Such would, and, in no long -time, must be the effect of attempting to forbid as a crime, and to -suppress as an evil, the command and blessing of Providence, “Increase -and multiply.” Such would be the happy result of an endeavor to keep as -a lair of wild beasts that earth which God by an express charter has -given to the children of men. Far different, and surely much wiser, has -been our policy hitherto. Hitherto we have invited our people, by every -kind of bounty, to fixed establishments. We have invited the husbandman -to look to authority for his title. We have taught him piously to -believe in the mysterious virtue of wax and parchment. We have thrown -each tract of land, as it was peopled, into districts, that the ruling -power should never be wholly out of sight. We have settled all we -could, and we have carefully attended every settlement with government. - -Adhering, sir, as I do, to this policy, as well as for the reasons I -have just given, I think this new project of hedging in population to -be neither prudent nor practicable. - -To impoverish the colonies in general, and in particular to arrest the -noble course of their marine enterprises, would be a more easy task. -I freely confess it. We have shown a disposition to a system of this -kind; a disposition even to continue the restraint after the offence, -looking on ourselves as rivals to our colonies, and persuaded that of -course we must gain all that they shall lose. Much mischief we may -certainly do. The power inadequate to all other things is often more -than sufficient for this. I do not look on the direct and immediate -power of the colonies to resist our violence as very formidable. In -this, however, I may be mistaken. But when I consider that we have -colonies for no purpose but to be serviceable to us, it seems to my -poor understanding a little preposterous to make them unserviceable in -order to keep them obedient. It is, in truth, nothing more than the -old, and, as I thought, exploded problem of tyranny, which proposes -to beggar its subject into submission. But, remember, when you have -completed your system of impoverishment, that nature still proceeds in -her ordinary course; that discontent will increase with misery; and -that there are critical moments in the fortunes of all states, when -they who are too weak to contribute to your prosperity may be strong -enough to complete your ruin. “_Spoliatis arma supersunt._” - -The temper and character which prevail in our colonies are, I am -afraid, unalterable by any human art. We cannot, I fear, falsify the -pedigree of this fierce people, and persuade them that they are not -sprung from a nation in whose veins the blood of freedom circulates. -The language in which they would hear you tell them this tale would -detect the imposition. Your speech would betray you. An Englishman is -the unfittest person on earth to argue another Englishman into slavery. - -I think it is nearly as little in our power to change their republican -religion as their free descent; or to substitute the Roman Catholic -as a penalty, or the Church of England as an improvement. The mode -of inquisition and dragooning is going out of fashion in the old -world, and I should not confide much to their efficacy in the new. The -education of the Americans is also on the same unalterable bottom with -their religion. You cannot persuade them to burn their books of curious -science; to banish their lawyers from their courts of law; or to quench -the lights of their assemblies, by refusing to choose those persons who -are best read in their privileges. It would be no less impracticable -to think of wholly annihilating the popular assemblies in which these -lawyers sit. The army, by which we must govern in their place, would be -far more chargeable to us; not quite so effectual; and perhaps, in the -end, full as difficult to be kept in obedience. - -With regard to the high aristocratic spirit of Virginia and the -southern colonies, it has been proposed, I know, to reduce it, by -declaring a general enfranchisement of their slaves. This project has -had its advocates and panegyrists, yet I never could argue myself into -an opinion of it. Slaves are often much attached to their masters. A -general wild offer of liberty would not always be accepted. History -furnishes few instances of it. It is sometimes as hard to persuade -slaves to be free as it is to compel freemen to be slaves; and in this -auspicious scheme we should have both these pleasing tasks on our -hands at once. But when we talk of enfranchisement, do we not perceive -that the American master may enfranchise too, and arm servile hands in -defence of freedom? A measure to which other people have had recourse -more than once, and not without success, in a desperate situation of -their affairs. - -Slaves as these unfortunate black people are, and dull as all men -are from slavery, must they not a little suspect the offer of freedom -from that very nation which has sold them to their present masters? -From that nation, one of whose causes of quarrel with those masters is -their refusal to deal any more in that inhuman traffic? An offer of -freedom from England would come rather oddly, shipped to them in an -African vessel, which is refused an entry into the ports of Virginia -or Carolina, with a cargo of three hundred Angola negroes. It would -be curious to see the Guinea captain attempt at the same instant to -publish his proclamation of liberty and to advertise the sale of slaves. - -But let us suppose all these moral difficulties got over. The ocean -remains. You cannot pump this dry; and as long as it continues in its -present bed, so long all the causes which weaken authority by distance -will continue. - - “Ye gods! annihilate but space and time, - And make two lovers happy!” - -was a pious and passionate prayer, but just as reasonable as many of -these serious wishes of very grave and solemn politicians. - -If, then, sir, it seems almost desperate to think of any alterative -course for changing the moral causes (and not quite easy to remove -the natural) which produce the prejudices irreconcilable to the -late exercise of our authority, but that the spirit infallibly will -continue, and, continuing, will produce such effects as now embarrass -us, the _second_ mode under consideration is to prosecute that spirit -in its overt acts as _criminal_. - -At this proposition I must pause a moment. The thing seems a great deal -too big for my ideas of jurisprudence. It should seem, to my way of -conceiving such matters, that there is a very wide difference in reason -and policy between the mode of proceeding on the irregular conduct -of scattered individuals, or even of bands of men, who disturb order -within the state, and the civil dissensions which may, from time to -time, on great questions, agitate the several communities which compose -a great empire. It looks to me to be narrow and pedantic to apply the -ordinary ideas of criminal justice so this great public contest. I -do not know the method of drawing up an indictment against a whole -people. I cannot insult and ridicule the feelings of millions of my -fellow-creatures, as Sir Edward Coke insulted one excellent individual -at the bar.[58] I am not ripe to pass sentence on the gravest public -bodies, intrusted with magistracies of great authority and dignity, -and charged with the safety of their fellow-citizens, upon the very -same title that I am. I really think that, for wise men, this is -not judicious; for sober men, not decent; for minds tinctured with -humanity, not mild and merciful. - -Perhaps, sir, I am mistaken in my idea of an empire, as distinguished -from a single state or kingdom. But my idea of it is this; that an -empire is the aggregate of many states, under one common head, whether -this head be a monarch or a presiding republic. It does, in such -constitutions, frequently happen (and nothing but the dismal, cold, -dead uniformity of servitude can prevent its happening) that the -subordinate parts have many local privileges and immunities. Between -these privileges and the supreme common authority, the line may be -extremely nice. Of course, disputes—often, too, very bitter disputes, -and much ill blood, will arise. But, though every privilege is an -exemption, in the case, from the ordinary exercise of the supreme -authority, it is no denial of it. The claim of a privilege seems -rather, _ex vi termini_, to imply a superior power; for to talk of the -privileges of a state or of a person who has no superior, is hardly any -better than speaking nonsense. Now, in such unfortunate quarrels among -the component parts of a great political union of communities, I can -scarcely conceive any thing more completely imprudent than for the head -of the empire to insist that, if any privilege is pleaded against his -will or his acts, that his _whole_ authority is denied; instantly to -proclaim rebellion, to beat to arms, and to put the offending provinces -under the ban. Will not this, sir, very soon teach the provinces to -make no distinctions on their part? Will it not teach them that the -government against which a claim of liberty is tantamount to high -treason, is a government to which submission is equivalent to slavery? -It may not always be quite convenient to impress dependent communities -with such an idea. - -We are, indeed, in all disputes with the colonies, by the necessity of -things, the judge. It is true sir; but I confess that the character of -judge in my own cause is a thing that frightens me. Instead of filling -me with pride, I am exceedingly humbled by it. I cannot proceed with a -stern, assured, judicial confidence, until I find myself in something -more like a judicial character. I must have these hesitations as long -as I am compelled to recollect that, in my little reading upon such -contests as these, the sense of mankind has at least as often decided -against the superior as the subordinate power. Sir, let me add, too, -that the opinion of my having some abstract right in my favor would -not put me much at my ease in passing sentence, unless I could be -sure that there were no rights which in their exercise under certain -circumstances, were not the most odious of all wrongs, and the most -vexatious of all injustice. Sir, these considerations have great weight -with me, when I find things so circumstanced that I see the same party -at once a civil litigant against me in point of right and a culprit -before me; while I sit as criminal judge on acts of his whose moral -quality is to be decided on upon the merits of that very litigation. -Men are every now and then put, by the complexity of human affairs, -into strange situations; but justice is the same, let the judge be in -what situation he will. - -There is, sir, also a circumstance which convinces me that this mode -of criminal proceeding is not, at least in the present stage of our -contest, altogether expedient, which is nothing less than the conduct -of those very persons who have seemed to adopt that mode, by lately -declaring a rebellion in Massachusetts Bay, as they had formerly -addressed to have traitors brought hither, under an act of Henry -the Eighth, for trial. For, though rebellion is declared, it is not -proceeded against as such; nor have any steps been taken toward the -apprehension or conviction of any individual offender, either on our -late or our former address; but modes of _public_ coercion have been -adopted, and such as have much more resemblance to a sort of qualified -hostility toward an independent power than the punishment of rebellious -subjects. All this seems rather inconsistent; but it shows how -difficult it is to apply these juridical ideas to our present case. - -In this situation, let us seriously and coolly ponder. What is it we -have got by all our menaces, which have been many and ferocious? What -advantage have we derived from the penal laws we have passed, and -which, for the time, have been severe and numerous? What advances have -we made toward our object by the sending of a force which, by land and -sea, is no contemptible strength? Has the disorder abated? Nothing -less. When I see things in this situation, after such confident hopes, -bold promises, and active exertions, I cannot, for my life, avoid a -suspicion that the plan itself is not correctly right. - -If, then, the removal of the causes of this spirit of American liberty -be, for the greater part, or rather entirely, impracticable; if the -ideas of criminal process be inapplicable, or, if applicable, are in -the highest degree inexpedient, what way yet remains? No way is open -but the third and last—to comply with the American spirit as necessary, -or, if you please, to submit to it as a necessary evil. - -If we adopt this mode, if we mean to conciliate and concede, let us -see, of what nature the concessions ought to be. To ascertain the -nature of our concession, we must look at their complaint. The colonies -complain that they have not the characteristic mark and seal of British -freedom. They complain that they are taxed in Parliament in which they -are not represented. If you mean to satisfy them at all, you must -satisfy them with regard to this complaint. If you mean to please any -people, you must give them the boon which they ask; not what you may -think better for them, but of a kind totally different. Such an act -may be a wise regulation, but it is no concession, whereas our present -theme is the mode of giving satisfaction. - -Sir, I think you must perceive that I am resolved this day to have -nothing at all to do with the question of the right of taxation. -Some gentlemen startle, but it is true. I put it totally out of -the question. It is less than nothing in my consideration. I do -not, indeed, wonder, nor will you, sir, that gentlemen of profound -learning are fond of displaying it on this profound subject. But my -consideration is narrow, confined, and wholly limited to the policy of -the question. I do not examine whether the giving away a man’s money be -a power excepted and reserved out of the general trust of government, -and how far all mankind, in all forms of polity, are entitled to an -exercise of that right by the charter of nature; or whether, on the -contrary, a right of taxation is necessarily involved in the general -principle of legislation, and inseparable from the ordinary supreme -power. These are deep questions, where great names militate against -each other; where reason is perplexed; and an appeal to authorities -only thickens the confusion; for high and reverend authorities lift up -their heads on both sides, and there is no sure footing in the middle. -The point is - - That Serbonian bog - Betwixt Damieta and Mount Cassius old, - Where armies whole have sunk.[59] - -I do not intend to be overwhelmed in this bog, though in such -respectable company. The question with me is, not whether you have -a right to render your people miserable, but whether it is not your -interest to make them happy. It is not what a lawyer tells me I _may_ -do, but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I _ought_ to do. -Is a politic act the worse for being a generous one? Is no concession -proper but that which is made from your want of right to keep what -you grant? Or does it lessen the grace or dignity of relaxing in the -exercise of an odious claim, because you have your evidence-room full -of titles, and your magazines stuffed with arms to enforce them? What -signify all those titles and all those arms? Of what avail are they, -when the reason of the thing tells me that the assertion of my title is -the loss of my suit, and that I could do nothing but wound myself by -the use of my own weapons?[60] - -Such is steadfastly my opinion of the absolute necessity of keeping up -the concord of this empire by a unity of spirit, though in a diversity -of operations, that, if I were sure the colonists had, at their leaving -this country, sealed a regular compact of servitude; that they had -solemnly abjured all the rights of citizens; that they had made a vow -to renounce all ideas of liberty for them and their posterity to all -generations, yet I should hold myself obliged to conform to the temper -I found universally prevalent in my own day, and to govern two millions -of men, impatient of servitude, on the principles of freedom. I am -not determining a point of law. I am restoring tranquillity, and the -general character and situation of a people must determine what sort of -government is fitted for them. That point nothing else can or ought to -determine. - -My idea, therefore, without considering whether we yield as matter of -right, or grant as matter of favor, is _to admit the people of our -colonies into an interest in the Constitution_, and, by recording that -admission in the journals of Parliament, to give them as strong an -assurance as the nature of the thing will admit, that we mean forever -to adhere to that solemn declaration of systematic indulgence. - -Some years ago, the repeal of a revenue act, upon its understood -principle, might have served to show that we intended an unconditional -abatement of the exercise of a taxing power. Such a measure was then -sufficient to remove all suspicion, and to give perfect content. -But unfortunate events, since that time, may make something farther -necessary, and not more necessary for the satisfaction of the colonies, -than for the dignity and consistency of our own future proceedings. - -I have taken a very incorrect measure of the disposition of the House, -if this proposal in itself would be received with dislike. I think, -sir, we have few American financiers. But our misfortune is, we are -too acute; we are too exquisite in our conjectures of the future, for -men oppressed with such great and present evils. The more moderate -among the opposers of parliamentary concessions freely confess that -they hope no good from taxation, but they apprehend the colonists have -farther views, and, if this point were conceded, they would instantly -attack the Trade Laws. These gentlemen are convinced that this was the -intention from the beginning, and the quarrel of the Americans with -taxation was no more than a cloak and cover to this design. Such has -been the language even of a gentleman [Mr. Rice] of real moderation, -and of a natural temper well adjusted to fair and equal government. I -am, however, sir, not a little surprised at this kind of discourse, -whenever I hear it; and I am the more surprised, on account of the -arguments which I constantly find in company with it, and which are -often urged from the same mouths and on the same day. - -For instance, when we allege that it is against reason to tax a people -under so many restraints in trade as the Americans, the noble lord in -the blue ribbon shall tell you that the restraints on trade are futile -and useless; of no advantage to us, and of no burden to those on whom -they are imposed; that the trade of America is not secured by the acts -of navigation, but by the natural and irresistible advantage of a -commercial preference. - -Such is the merit of the trade laws in this posture of the debate. But -when strong internal circumstances are urged against the taxes; when -the scheme is dissected; when experience and the nature of things are -brought to prove, and do prove, the utter impossibility of obtaining an -effective revenue from the colonies; when these things are pressed, or -rather press themselves, so as to drive the advocates of colony taxes -to a clear admission of the futility of the scheme; then, sir, the -sleeping trade laws revive from their trance, and this useless taxation -is to be kept sacred, not for its own sake, but as a counterguard and -security of the laws of trade. - -Then, sir, you keep up revenue laws which are mischievous, in order -to preserve trade laws that are useless. Such is the wisdom of our -plan in both its members. They are separately given up as of no value, -and yet one is always to be defended for the sake of the other. But I -cannot agree with the noble lord, nor with the pamphlet from whence -he seems to have borrowed these ideas, concerning the inutility of -the trade laws[61]; for, without idolizing them, I am sure they are -still, in many ways, of great use to us; and in former times, they have -been of the greatest. They do confine, and they do greatly narrow the -market for the Americans; but my perfect conviction of this does not -help me in the least to discern how the revenue laws form any security -whatsoever to the commercial regulations, or that these commercial -regulations are the true ground of the quarrel, or that the giving -way in any one instance of authority is to lose all that may remain -unconceded. - -One fact is clear and indisputable. The public and avowed origin of -this quarrel was on taxation. This quarrel has, indeed, brought on new -disputes on new questions, but certainly the least bitter, and the -fewest of all, on the trade laws. To judge which of the two be the real -radical cause of quarrel, we have to see whether the commercial dispute -did, in order of time, precede the dispute on taxation. There is not a -shadow of evidence for it. Next, to enable us to judge whether at this -moment a dislike to the trade laws be the real cause of quarrel, it is -absolutely necessary to put the taxes out of the question by a repeal. -See how the Americans act in this position, and then you will be able -to discern correctly what is the true object of the controversy, or -whether any controversy at all will remain. Unless you consent to -remove this cause of difference, it is impossible, with decency, to -assert that the dispute is not upon what it is avowed to be. And I -would, sir, recommend to your serious consideration, whether it be -prudent to form a rule for punishing people, not on their own acts, but -on your conjectures. Surely it is preposterous at the very best. It -is not justifying your anger by their misconduct, but it is converting -your ill will into their delinquency. - -But the colonies will go farther. Alas! alas! when will this -speculating against fact and reason end? What will quiet these panic -fears which we entertain of the hostile effect of a conciliatory -conduct? Is it true that no case can exist in which it is proper for -the sovereign to accede to the desires of his discontented subjects? Is -there any thing peculiar in this case to make a rule for itself? Is all -authority of course lost, when it is not pushed to the extreme? Is it -a certain maxim, that the fewer causes of dissatisfaction are left by -government the more the subject will be inclined to resist and rebel? - -All these objections being, in fact, no more than suspicions, -conjectures, divinations, formed in defiance of fact and experience, -they did not, sir, discourage me from entertaining the idea of a -conciliatory concession, founded on the principles which I have just -stated. - -In forming a plan for this purpose, I endeavored to put myself in that -frame of mind which was the most natural and the most reasonable, -and which was certainly the most probable means of securing me from -all error. I set out with a perfect distrust of my own abilities; a -total renunciation of every speculation of my own; and with a profound -reverence for the wisdom of our ancestors, who have left us the -inheritance of so happy a constitution and so flourishing an empire, -and, what is a thousand times more valuable, the treasury of the maxims -and principles which formed the one and obtained the other. - -During the reigns of the Kings of Spain of the Austrian family, -whenever they were at a loss in the Spanish councils, it was common for -their statesmen to say, that they ought to consult the genius of Philip -the Second. The genius of Philip the Second might mislead them; and the -issue of their affairs showed that they had not chosen the most perfect -standard. But, sir, I am sure that I shall not be misled, when, in a -case of constitutional difficulty, I consult the genius of the English -Constitution. Consulting at that oracle (it was with all due humility -and piety), I found four capital examples in a similar case before me: -those of Ireland, Wales, Chester, and Durham. - -Ireland, before the English conquest, though never governed by a -despotic power, had no Parliament. How far the English Parliament -itself was at that time modelled according to the present form, is -disputed among antiquarians. But we have all the reason in the world to -be assured, that a form of Parliament, such as England then enjoyed, -she instantly communicated to Ireland; and we are equally sure that -almost every successive improvement in constitutional liberty, as fast -as it was made here, was transmitted thither. The feudal baronage and -the feudal knighthood, the roots of our primitive constitution, were -early transplanted into that soil, and grew and flourished there. -Magna Charta, if it did not give us originally the House of Commons, -gave us, at least, a House of Commons of weight and consequence. But -your ancestors did not churlishly sit down alone to the feast of -Magna Charta. Ireland was made immediately a partaker. This benefit -of English laws and liberties, I confess, was not at first extended -to _all_ Ireland. Mark the consequence. English authority and English -liberty had exactly the same boundaries. Your standard could never -be advanced an inch before your privileges.[62] Sir John Davis shows -beyond a doubt, that the refusal of a general communication of -these rights was the true cause why Ireland was five hundred years -in subduing; and after the vain projects of a military government, -attempted in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it was soon discovered that -nothing could make that country English, in civility and allegiance, -but your laws and your forms of legislature.[63] It was not English -arms, but the English Constitution, that conquered Ireland. From -that time, Ireland has ever had a general Parliament, as she had -before a partial Parliament. You changed the people; you altered the -religion; but you never touched the form or the vital substance of -free government in that kingdom. You deposed kings; you restored them; -you altered the succession to theirs, as well as to your own crown: -but you never altered their Constitution; the principle of which was -respected by usurpation; restored with the restoration of monarchy, and -established, I trust, forever, by the glorious revolution. This has -made Ireland the great and flourishing kingdom that it is; and from a -disgrace and a burden intolerable to this nation, has rendered her a -principal part of our strength and ornament. This country cannot be -said to have ever formally taxed her. The irregular things done in the -confusion of mighty troubles, and on the hinge of great revolutions, -even if all were done that is said to have been done, form no example. -If they have any effect in argument, they make an exception to prove -the rule. None of your own liberties could stand a moment if the casual -deviations from them, at such times, were suffered to be used as proofs -of their nullity. By the lucrative amount of such casual breaches in -the Constitution, judge what the stated and fixed rule of supply has -been in that kingdom. Your Irish pensioners would starve, if they had -no other fund to live on than taxes granted by English authority. Turn -your eyes to those popular grants from whence all your great supplies -are come, and learn to respect that only source of public wealth in the -British empire. - -My next example is Wales. This country was said to be reduced by Henry -the Third. It was said more truly to be so by Edward the First.[64] -But though then conquered, it was not looked upon as any part of the -realm of England. Its old Constitution, whatever that might have -been, was destroyed, and no good one was substituted in its place. -The care of that tract was put into the hands of Lords Marchers—a -form of government of a very singular kind; a strange heterogeneous -monster, something between hostility and government; perhaps it has a -sort of resemblance, according to the modes of those times, to that -of commander-in-chief at present, to whom all civil power is granted -as secondary. The manners of the Welsh nation followed the genius -of the government. The people were ferocious, restive, savage, and -uncultivated; sometimes composed, never pacified. Wales, within itself, -was in perpetual disorder; and it kept the frontier of England in -perpetual alarm. Benefits from it to the State there were none. Wales -was only known to England by incursion and invasion. - -Sir, during that state of things, Parliament was not idle. They -attempted to subdue the fierce spirit of the Welsh by all sorts of -rigorous laws. They prohibited by statute the sending all sorts of -arms into Wales, as you prohibit by proclamation (with something more -of doubt on the legality) the sending arms to America. They disarmed -the Welsh by statute, as you attempted (but still with more question -on the legality) to disarm New England by an instruction. They made an -act to drag offenders from Wales into England for trial, as you have -done (but with more hardship) with regard to America. By another act, -where one of the parties was an Englishman, they ordained that his -trial should be always by English. They made acts to restrain trade, as -you do; and they prevented the Welsh from the use of fairs and markets, -as you do the Americans from fisheries and foreign ports. In short, -when the statute-book was not quite so much swelled as it is now, you -find no less than fifteen acts of penal regulation on the subject of -Wales.[65] - -Here we rub our hands—a fine body of precedents for the authority of -Parliament and the use of it—I admit it fully; and pray add likewise -to these precedents, that all the while Wales rid this kingdom like an -_incubus_; that it was an unprofitable and oppressive burden; and that -an Englishman travelling in that country could not go six yards from -the highroad without being murdered. - -The march of the human mind is slow. Sir, it was not until after two -hundred years discovered that, by an eternal law, Providence had -decreed vexation to violence, and poverty to rapine. Your ancestors -did, however, at length open their eyes to the ill husbandry of -injustice. They found that the tyranny of a free people could of all -tyrannies the least be endured, and that laws made against a whole -nation were not the most effectual methods for securing its obedience. -Accordingly, in the twenty-seventh year of Henry VIII., the course -was entirely altered. With a preamble stating the entire and perfect -rights of the Crown of England, it gave to the Welsh all the rights -and privileges of English subjects. A political order was established; -the military power gave way to the civil; the marches were turned into -counties. But that a nation should have a right to English liberties, -and yet no share at all in the fundamental security of these liberties, -the grant of their own property, seemed a thing so incongruous, -that, eight years after, that is, in the thirty-fifth of that reign, -a complete and not ill-proportioned representation by counties and -boroughs was bestowed upon Wales by act of Parliament. From that -moment, as by a charm, the tumults subsided; obedience was restored; -peace, order, and civilization followed in the train of liberty. When -the day-star of the English Constitution had arisen in their hearts, -all was harmony within and without. - - Simul alba nautis - Stella refulsit, - Defluit saxis agitatus humor: - Concidunt venti, fugiuntque nubes; - Et minax (quod sic voluere) ponto - Unda recumbit.[66] - -The very same year the county palatine of Chester received the same -relief from its oppressions and the same remedy to its disorders. -Before this time Chester was little less distempered than Wales. The -inhabitants, without rights themselves, were the fittest to destroy the -rights of others; and from thence Richard II. drew the standing army -of archers with which for a time he oppressed England. The people of -Chester applied to Parliament in a petition penned as I shall read to -you: - - “To the King our sovereign lord, in most humble wise shown unto your - excellent Majesty, the inhabitants of your Grace’s county palatine - of Chester; that where the said county palatine of Chester is and - hath been always hitherto exempt, excluded and separated out and from - your high court of Parliament, to have any knights and burgesses - within the said court; by reason whereof the said inhabitants have - hitherto sustained manifold disherisons, losses, and damages, as - well in their lands, goods, and bodies, as in the good, civil, and - politic governance and maintenance of the Commonwealth of their said - country. (2) And, forasmuch as the said inhabitants have always - hitherto been bound by the acts and statutes made and ordained by - your said highness and your most noble progenitors, by authority of - the said court, as far forth as other counties, cities, and boroughs - have been, that have had their knights and burgesses within your said - court of Parliament, and yet have had neither knight nor burgess - there for the said county palatine; the said inhabitants, for lack - thereof, have been oftentimes touched and grieved with acts and - statutes made within the said court, as well derogatory unto the most - ancient jurisdictions, liberties, and privileges of your said county - palatine, as prejudicial unto the Commonwealth, quietness, rest, and - peace of your Grace’s most bounden subjects inhabiting within the - same.” - -What did Parliament with this audacious address? Reject it as a libel? -Treat it as an affront to government? Spurn it as a derogation from -the rights of legislature? Did they toss it over the table? Did they -burn it by the hands of the common hangman? They took the petition of -grievance, all rugged as it was, without softening or temperament, -unpurged of the original bitterness and indignation of complaint; they -made it the very preamble to their act of redress, and consecrated its -principle to all ages in the sanctuary of legislation. - -Here is my third example. It was attended with the success of the two -former. Chester, civilized as well as Wales, has demonstrated that -freedom, and not servitude, is the cure of anarchy, as religion, and -not atheism, is the true remedy for superstition. Sir, this pattern -of Chester was followed in the reign of Charles II. with regard to the -county palatine of Durham, which is my fourth example. This county had -long lain out of the pale of free legislation. So scrupulously was -the example of Chester followed, that the style of the preamble is -nearly the same with that of the Chester act; and without affecting -the abstract extent of the authority of Parliament, it recognizes the -equity of not suffering any considerable district in which the British -subjects may act as a body to be taxed without their own voice in the -grant. - -Now, if the doctrines of policy contained in these preambles, and the -force of these examples in the acts of Parliament, avail anything, what -can be said against applying them with regard to America? Are not the -people of America as much Englishmen as the Welsh? The preamble of the -act of Henry VIII. says, the Welsh speak a language no way resembling -that of his Majesty’s English subjects. Are the Americans not as -numerous? If we may trust the learned and accurate Judge Barrington’s -account of North Wales, and take that as a standard to measure the -rest, there is no comparison. The people cannot amount to above -200,000; not a tenth part of the number in the colonies. Is America -in rebellion? Wales was hardly ever free from it. Have you attempted -to govern America by penal statutes? You made fifteen for Wales. But -your legislative authority is perfect with regard to America. Was it -less perfect in Wales, Chester, and Durham! But America is virtually -represented. What! does the electric force of virtual representation -more easily pass over the Atlantic than pervade Wales, which lies in -your neighborhood; or than Chester and Durham, surrounded by abundance -of representation that is actual and palpable? But, sir, your ancestors -thought this sort of virtual representation, however ample, to be -totally insufficient for the freedom of the inhabitants of territories -that are so near, and comparatively so inconsiderable. How, then, -can I think it sufficient for those which are infinitely greater and -infinitely more remote? - -You will now, sir, perhaps imagine that I am on the point of proposing -to you a scheme for representation of the colonies in Parliament. -Perhaps I might be inclined to entertain some such thought, but a great -flood stops me in my course. _Opposuit natura._ I cannot remove the -eternal barriers of the creation. The thing in that mode I do not know -to be possible. As I meddle with no theory, I do not absolutely assert -the impracticability of such a representation; but I do not see my -way to it; and those who have been more confident have not been more -successful. However, the arm of public benevolence is not shortened, -and there are often several means to the same end. What nature has -disjoined in one way wisdom may unite in another. When we cannot give -the benefit as we would wish, let us not refuse it altogether. If we -cannot give the principal, let us find a substitute. But how? Where? -What substitute? - -Fortunately I am not obliged for the ways and means of this substitute -to tax my own unproductive invention. I am not even obliged to go to -the rich treasury of the fertile framers of imaginary commonwealths; -not to the Republic of Plato, not to the Utopia of More, not to the -Oceana of Harrington. It is before me. It is at my feet. - - And the dull swain - Treads daily on it with his clouted shoon.[67] - -I only wish you to recognize, for the theory, the ancient -constitutional policy of this kingdom with regard to representation, -as that policy has been declared in acts of Parliament; and, as to the -practice, to return to that mode which a uniform experience has marked -out to you as best, and in which you walked with security, advantage, -and honor, until the year 1763. - -My resolutions, therefore, mean to establish the equity and justice of -a taxation of America, by _grant_ and not by _imposition_. To mark the -_legal competency_ of the colony assemblies for the support of their -government in peace, and for public aids in time of war. To acknowledge -that this legal competency has had _a dutiful and beneficial exercise_; -and that experience has shown the _benefit of their grants_, and the -_futility of parliamentary taxation as a method of supply_. - -These solid truths compose six fundamental propositions. There are -three more resolutions corollary to these. If you admit the first set, -you can hardly reject the others. But if you admit the first, I shall -be far from solicitous whether you accept or refuse the last. I think -these six massive pillars will be of strength sufficient to support -the temple of British concord. I have no more doubt than I entertain -of my existence, that, if you admitted these, you would command an -immediate peace; and, with but tolerable future management, a lasting -obedience in America. I am not arrogant in this confident assurance. -The propositions are all mere matters of fact; and if they are such -facts as draw irresistible conclusions even in the stating, this is the -power of truth, and not any management of mine. - -Sir, I shall open the whole plan to you together, with such -observations on the motions as may tend to illustrate them where they -may want explanation. The first is a resolution: - - “That the colonies and plantations of Great Britain in North - America, consisting of fourteen separate governments, and - containing two millions and upward of free inhabitants, have - not had the liberty and privilege of electing and sending any - knights and burgesses or others to represent them in the high - court of Parliament.” - -This is a plain matter of fact, necessary to be laid down, and -(excepting the description) it is laid down in the language of the -Constitution: it is taken nearly _verbatim_ from acts of Parliament. - -The second is like unto the first: - - “That the said colonies and plantations have been liable to - and bounden by several subsidies, payments, rates, and taxes, - given and granted by Parliament, though the said colonies and - plantations have not their knights and burgesses in the said - high court of Parliament, of their own election, to represent - the condition of their country; by lack whereof they have been - oftentimes touched and grieved by subsidies given, granted, - and assented to, in said court, in a manner prejudicial to - the commonwealth, quietness, rest, and peace of the subjects - inhabiting within the same.” - -Is this description too hot or too cold, too strong or too weak? Does -it arrogate too much to the supreme Legislature? Does it lean too much -to the claims of the people? If it runs into any of these errors, the -fault is not mine. It is the language of your own ancient acts of -Parliament. - - Nec meus hic sermo est sed quæ præcipit Ofellus - Rusticus, abnormis sapiens.[68] - -It is the genuine produce of the ancient, rustic, manly, home-bred -sense of this country. I did not dare to rub off a particle of the -venerable rust that rather adorns and preserves, than destroys the -metal. It would be a profanation to touch with a tool the stones -which construct the sacred altar of peace.[69] I would not violate -with modern polish the ingenuous and noble roughness of these truly -constitutional materials. Above all things, I was resolved not to -be guilty of tampering, the odious vice of restless and unstable -minds. I put my foot in the tracks of our forefathers, where I can -neither wander nor stumble. Determining to fix articles of peace, I -was resolved not to be wise beyond what was written; I was resolved to -use nothing else than the form of sound words, to let others abound -in their own sense, and carefully to abstain from all expressions of -my own. What the law has said, I say. In all things else I am silent. -I have no organ but for her words. This, if it be not ingenious, I am -sure, is safe. - -There are, indeed, words expressive of grievance in this second -resolution, which those who are resolved always to be in the right -will deny to contain matter of fact, as applied to the present case, -although Parliament thought them true with regard to the counties -of Chester and Durham. They will deny that the Americans were ever -“touched and grieved” with the taxes. If they considered nothing in -taxes but their weight as pecuniary impositions, there might be some -pretence for this denial. But men may be sorely touched and deeply -grieved in their privileges as well as in their purses. Men may lose -little in property by the act which takes away all their freedom. When -a man is robbed of a trifle on the highway, it is not the twopence -lost that constitutes the capital outrage. This is not confined to -privileges. Even ancient indulgences withdrawn, without offence on -the part of those who enjoy such favors, operate as grievances. But -were the Americans then not touched and grieved by the taxes, in some -measure merely as taxes? If so, why were they almost all either wholly -repealed or exceedingly reduced? Were they not touched and grieved, -even by the regulating duties of the sixth of George II.? Else why were -the duties first reduced to one third in 1764, and afterward to a third -of that third in the year 1766? Were they not touched and grieved by -the Stamp Act? I shall say they were, until that tax is revived. Were -they not touched and grieved by the duties of 1767, which were likewise -repealed, and which Lord Hillsborough tells you, for the ministry, -were laid contrary to the true principle of commerce? Is not the -assurance given by that noble person to the colonies of a resolution -to lay no more taxes on them, an admission that taxes would touch -and grieve them? Is not the resolution of the noble lord in the blue -ribbon, now standing on your journals, the strongest of all proofs that -Parliamentary subsidies really touched and grieved them? Else why all -these changes, modifications, repeals, assurances, and resolutions? - -The next proposition is: - - “That, from the distance of the said colonies, and from other - circumstances, no method hath hitherto been devised for - procuring a representation in Parliament for the said colonies.” - -This is an assertion of a fact. I go no farther on the paper; though in -my private judgment, a useful representation is impossible; I am sure -it is not desired by them, nor ought it, perhaps, by us, but I abstain -from opinions. - -The fourth resolution is: - - “That each of the said colonies hath within itself a body - chosen in part or in the whole, by the freemen, freeholders, - or other free inhabitance thereof, commonly called the General - Assembly, or General Court, with powers legally to raise, levy, - and assess, according to the several usages of such colonies, - duties and taxes toward the defraying all sorts of public - services.” - -This competence in the colony assemblies is certain. It is proved by -the whole tenor of their acts of supply in all the assemblies, in -which the constant style of granting is, “an aid to his Majesty”; and -acts granting to the Crown have regularly for near a century passed -the public offices without dispute. Those who have been pleased -paradoxically to deny this right, holding that none but the British -Parliament can grant to the Crown, are wished to look to what is done, -not only in the colonies, but in Ireland, in one uniform, unbroken -tenor every session.[70] - -Sir, I am surprised that this doctrine should come from some of the law -servants of the Crown. I say that if the Crown could be responsible, -his Majesty—but certainly the ministers, and even these law officers -themselves, through whose hands the acts pass biennially in Ireland, -or annually the colonies, are in a habitual course of committing -impeachable offences. What habitual offenders have been all presidents -of the council, all secretaries of state, all first lords of trade, -all attorneys, and all solicitors-general! However, they are safe, as -no one impeaches them; and there is no ground of charge against them, -except in their own unfounded theories. - -The fifth resolution is also a resolution of fact: - - “That the said General Assemblies, General Courts, or other - bodies legally qualified as aforesaid, have at sundry times - freely granted several large subsidies and public aids for - his Majesty’s service, according to their abilities, when - required thereto by letter from one of his Majesty’s principal - secretaries of State. And that their right to grant the same, - and their cheerfulness and sufficiency in the said grants, have - been at sundry times acknowledged by Parliament.” - -To say nothing of their great expenses in the Indian wars; and not to -take their exertion in foreign ones, so high as the supplies in the -year 1695, not to go back to their public contributions in the year -1710, I shall begin to travel only where the journals give me light; -resolving to deal in nothing but fact authenticated by parliamentary -record, and to build myself wholly on that solid basis. - -On the 4th of April, 1748, a committee of this House came to the -following resolution: - - “_Resolved_, That it is the opinion of this committee, _that it - is just and reasonable_ that the several provinces and colonies - of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode - Island, be reimbursed the expenses they have been at in taking - and securing to the Crown of Great Britain the Island of Cape - Breton and its dependencies.” - -These expenses were immense for such colonies. They were above £200,000 -sterling; money first raised and advanced on their public credit. - -On the 28th of January, 1756, a message from the King came to us to -this effect: - - “His Majesty being sensible of the zeal and vigor with which - his faithful subjects of certain colonies in North America have - exerted themselves in defence of his Majesty’s just rights and - possessions, recommends it to this House to take the same into - their consideration, and to enable his Majesty to give them - such assistance as may be a _proper reward and encouragement_.” - -On the 3d of February, 1756, the House came to a suitable resolution, -expressed in words nearly the same as those of the message; but with -the farther addition, that the money then voted was an _encouragement_ -to the colonies to exert themselves with vigor. It will not be -necessary to go through all the testimonies which your own records -have given to the truth of my resolutions. I will only refer you to -the places in the journals: Vol. xxvii., 16th and 19th May, 1757; vol. -xxviii., June 1st, 1758—April 26th and 30th, 1759—March 26th and 31st, -and April 28th, 1760—January 9th and 20th, 1761; vol. xxix., January -22d and 26th, 1762—March 14th and 17th, 1763. - -Sir, here is the repeated acknowledgment of Parliament, that the -colonies not only gave, but gave to satiety. This nation has formally -acknowledged two things: first, that the colonies had gone beyond their -abilities, Parliament having thought it necessary to reimburse them; -secondly, that they had acted legally and laudably in their grants -of money, and their maintenance of troops, since the compensation is -expressly given as reward and encouragement. Reward is not bestowed for -acts that are unlawful; and encouragement is not held out to things -that deserve reprehension. My resolution, therefore, does nothing -more than collect into one proposition what is scattered through your -journals. I give you nothing but your own, and you cannot refuse in -the gross what you have so often acknowledged in detail. The admission -of this, which will be so honorable to them and to you, will, indeed, -be mortal to all the miserable stories by which the passions of the -misguided people have been engaged in an unhappy system. The people -heard, indeed, from the beginning of these disputes, one thing -continually dinned in their ears, that reason and justice demanded that -the Americans, who paid no taxes, should be compelled to contribute. -How did that fact of their paying nothing stand when the taxing system -began? When Mr. Grenville began to form his system of American revenue, -he stated in this House that the colonies were then in debt two million -six hundred thousand pounds sterling money, and was of opinion they -would discharge that debt in four years. On this state, those untaxed -people were actually subject to the payment of taxes to the amount of -six hundred and fifty thousand a year. In fact, however, Mr. Grenville -was mistaken. The funds given for sinking the debt did not prove quite -so ample as both the colonies and he expected. The calculation was too -sanguine: the reduction was not completed till some years after, and at -different times in different colonies. However, the taxes after the war -continued too great to bear any addition, with prudence or propriety; -and when the burdens imposed in consequence of former requisitions were -discharged, our tone became too high to resort again to requisition. No -colony, since that time, ever has had any requisition whatsoever made -to it. - -We see the sense of the Crown, and the sense of Parliament, on the -productive nature of a _revenue by grant_. Now search the same journals -for the produce of the _revenue by imposition_. Where is it? Let us -know the volume and the page. What is the gross, what is the net -produce? To what service is it applied? How have you appropriated its -surplus? What, can none of the many skilful index-makers that we are -now employing, find any trace of it? Well, let them and that rest -together. But, are the journals, which say nothing of the revenue, -as silent on the discontent? Oh, no! a child may find it. It is the -melancholy burden and blot of every page. - -I think, then, I am, from those journals, justified in the sixth and -last resolution, which is: - - “That it hath been found by experience that the manner of - granting the said supplies and aids, by the said general - assemblies, hath been more agreeable to the said colonies, and - more beneficial and conducive to the public service, than the - mode of giving and granting aids in Parliament, to be raised - and paid in the said colonies.” - -This makes the whole of the fundamental part of the plan. The -conclusion is irresistible. You cannot say that you were driven by -any necessity to an exercise of the utmost rights of legislature. You -cannot assert that you took on yourselves the task of imposing colony -taxes, from the want of another legal body, that is competent to the -purpose of supplying the exigencies of the State without wounding -the prejudices of the people. Neither is it true that the body so -qualified, and having that competence, had neglected the duty. - -The question now on all this accumulated matter, is—whether you will -choose to abide by a profitable experience, or a mischievous theory; -whether you choose to build on imagination or fact; whether you prefer -enjoyment or hope; satisfaction in your subjects or discontent? - -If these propositions are accepted, every thing which has been made to -enforce a contrary system must, I take it for granted, fall along with -it. On that ground I have drawn the following resolution, which, when -it comes to be moved, will naturally be divided in a proper manner: - - “That it may be proper to repeal an act, made in the seventh - year of the reign of his present Majesty, entitled An Act - for granting certain duties in the British colonies and - plantations in America; for allowing a drawback of the duties - of customs upon the exportation from this kingdom of coffee and - cocoa-nuts of the produce of the said colonies or plantations; - for discontinuing the drawbacks payable on China earthenware - exported to America, and for more effectually preventing - the clandestine running of goods in the said colonies and - plantations; and that it may be proper to repeal an act, made - in the fourteenth year of the reign of his present Majesty, - entitled, An Act to discontinue, in such manner, and for such - time as are therein mentioned, the landing and discharging, - lading, or shipping, of goods, wares, and merchandise, at - the town and within the harbor of Boston, in the province of - Massachusetts Bay, in North America; and that it may be proper - to repeal an act, made in the fourteenth year of the reign - of his present Majesty, entitled, An Act for the impartial - administration of justice in the cases of persons questioned - for any acts done by them in the execution of the law, or - for the suppression of riots and tumults in the province of - Massachusetts Bay, in New England; and that it may be proper - to repeal an act, made in the fourteenth year of the reign of - his present Majesty, entitled, An Act for the better regulating - the government of the province of Massachusetts Bay, in New - England; and also, that it may be proper to explain and amend - an act, made in the thirty-fifth year of the reign of King - Henry the Eighth, entitled, An Act for the trial of treasons - committed out of the King’s dominions.” - -I wish, sir, to repeal the Boston Port Bill, because (independently -of the dangerous precedent of suspending the rights of the subject -during the King’s pleasure) it was passed, as I apprehend, with -less regularity, and on more partial principles, than it ought. The -corporation of Boston was not heard before it was condemned. Other -towns, full as guilty as she was, have not had their ports blocked up. -Even the restraining bill of the present session does not go to the -length of the Boston Port Act. The same ideas of prudence which induced -you not to extend equal punishment to equal guilt, even when you were -punishing, induce me, who mean not to chastise, but to reconcile, to be -satisfied with the punishment already partially inflicted. - -Ideas of prudence, and accommodation to circumstances, prevent you -from taking away the charters of Connecticut and Rhode Island, as you -have taken away that of Massachusetts Colony, though the Crown has -far less power in the two former provinces than it enjoyed in the -latter; and though the abuses have been full as great and as flagrant -in the exempted as in the punished. The same reasons of prudence -and accommodation have weight with me in restoring the charter of -Massachusetts Bay. Besides, sir, the act which changes the charter of -Massachusetts is in many particulars so exceptionable, that if I did -not wish absolutely to repeal, I would by all means desire to alter it, -as several of its provisions tend to the subversion of all public and -private justice. Such, among others, is the power in the Governor to -change the Sheriff at his pleasure, and to make a new returning officer -for every special cause. It is shameful to behold such a regulation -standing among English laws. - -The act for bringing persons accused of committing murder under the -orders of government to England for trial, is but temporary. That act -has calculated the probable duration of our quarrel with the colonies, -and is accommodated to that supposed duration. I would hasten the happy -moment of reconciliation, and therefore must, on my principle, get rid -of that most justly obnoxious act. - -The act of Henry the Eighth, for the trial of treasons, I do not mean -to take away, but to confine it to its proper bounds and original -intention; to make it expressly for trial of treasons (and the greatest -treasons may be committed) in places where the jurisdiction of the -Crown does not extend. - -Having guarded the privileges of local legislature, I would next secure -to the colonies a fair and unbiased judicature; for which purpose, sir, -I propose the following resolution: - - “That, from the time when the General Assembly or General - Court of any colony or plantation in North America, shall - have appointed by act of assembly, duly confirmed, a settled - salary to the offices of the Chief Justice and other judges - of the Superior Court, it may be proper that the said Chief - Justice and other judges of the Superior Courts of such colony, - shall hold his and their office and offices during their good - behavior, and shall not be removed therefrom, but when the - said removal shall be adjudged by his Majesty in council, - upon a hearing on complaint from the General Assembly, or on - a complaint from the Governor, or Council, or the House of - Representatives severally, of the colony in which the said - Chief Justice and other judges have exercised the said offices.” - -The next resolution relates to the Courts of Admiralty. It is this: - - “That it may be proper to regulate the Courts of Admiralty, or - Vice Admiralty, authorized by the 15th chapter of the 4th of - George the Third, in such a manner as to make the same more - commodious to those who sue, or are sued, in the said courts, - and to provide for the more decent maintenance of the judges in - the same.” - -These courts I do not wish to take away. They are in themselves proper -establishments. This court is one of the capital securities of the -Act of Navigation. The extent of its jurisdiction, indeed, has been -increased; but this is altogether as proper, and is, indeed, on many -accounts, more eligible, where new powers were wanted, than a court -absolutely new. But courts incommodiously situated, in effect, deny -justice; and a court, partaking in the fruits of its own condemnation, -is a robber. The Congress complain, and complain justly, of this -grievance. - -These are the three consequential propositions. I have thought of -two or three more, but they come rather too near detail, and to the -province of executive government, which I wish Parliament always to -superintend, never to assume. If the first six are granted, congruity -will carry the latter three. If not, the things that remain unrepealed -will be, I hope, rather unseemly encumbrances on the building, than -very materially detrimental to its strength and stability. - -Here, sir, I should close, but that I plainly perceive some objections -remain, which I ought, if possible, to remove. The first will be, -that, in resorting to the doctrine of our ancestors, as contained in -the preamble to the Chester act, I prove too much; that the grievance -from a want of representation stated in that preamble, goes to the -whole of legislation as well as to taxation. And that the colonies, -grounding themselves upon that doctrine, will apply it to all parts of -legislative authority. - -To this objection, with all possible deference and humility, and -wishing as little as any man living to impair the smallest particle -of our supreme authority, I answer, that _the words are the words -of Parliament, and not mine_; and that all false and inconclusive -inferences drawn from them are not mine, for I heartily disclaim any -such inference. I have chosen the words of an act of Parliament, which -Mr. Grenville, surely a tolerably zealous and very judicious advocate -for the sovereignty of Parliament, formerly moved to have read at your -table, in confirmation of his tenets. It is true that Lord Chatham -considered these preambles as declaring strongly in favor of his -opinions. He was a no less powerful advocate for the privileges of the -Americans. Ought I not from hence to presume that these preambles -are as favorable as possible to both, when properly understood; -favorable both to the rights of Parliament, and to the privilege of the -dependencies of this crown? But, sir, the object of grievance in my -resolution I have not taken from the Chester, but from the Durham act, -which confines the hardship of want of representation to the case of -subsidies, and which, therefore, falls in exactly with the case of the -colonies. But whether the unrepresented counties were _de jure_ or _de -facto_ bound, the preambles do not accurately distinguish; nor indeed -was it necessary; for, whether _de jure_ or _de facto_, the Legislature -thought the exercise of the power of taxing, as of right, or as of fact -without right, equally a grievance, and equally oppressive. - -I do not know that the colonies have, in any general way or in any -cool hour, gone much beyond the demand of immunity in relation to -taxes. It is not fair to judge of the temper or dispositions of any -man, or any set of men, when they are composed and at rest, from their -conduct or their expressions in a state of disturbance and irritation. -It is, besides, a very great mistake to imagine that mankind follow -up practically any speculative principle, either of government or -freedom, as far as it will go in argument and logical illation. We -Englishmen stop very short of the principles upon which we support any -given part of our Constitution, or even the whole of it together. I -could easily, if I had not already tired you, give you very striking -and convincing instances of it. This is nothing but what is natural and -proper. All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every -virtue and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter.[71] -We balance inconveniences; we give and take; we remit some rights that -we may enjoy others; and we choose rather to be happy citizens than -subtle disputants. As we must give away some natural liberty to enjoy -civil advantages, so we must sacrifice some civil liberties for the -advantages to be derived from the communion and fellowship of a great -empire. But, in all fair dealings, the thing bought must bear some -proportion to the purchase paid. None will barter away “the immediate -jewel of his soul.”[72] Though a great house is apt to make slaves -haughty, yet it is purchasing a part of the artificial importance of -a great empire too dear to pay for it all essential rights and all -the intrinsic dignity of human nature. None of us who would not risk -his life rather than fall under a government purely arbitrary. But, -although there are some among us who think our Constitution wants many -improvements to make it a complete system of liberty, perhaps none who -are of that opinion would think it right to aim at such improvement -by disturbing his country, and risking every thing that is dear to -him. In every arduous enterprise we consider what we are to lose as -well as what we are to gain; and the more and better stake of liberty -every people possess, the less they will hazard in a vain attempt to -make it more. These are _the cords of man_.[73] Man acts from adequate -motive relative to his interest, and not on metaphysical speculations. -Aristotle, the great master of reasoning, cautions us, and with great -weight and propriety, against this species of delusive geometrical -accuracy in moral arguments as the most fallacious of all sophistry.[74] - -The Americans will have no interest contrary to the grandeur and glory -of England, when they are not oppressed by the weight of it; and -they will rather be inclined to respect the acts of a superintending -Legislature, when they see them the acts of that power which is itself -the security, not the rival, of their secondary importance. In this -assurance my mind most perfectly acquiesces, and I confess I feel not -the least alarm from the discontents which are to arise from putting -people at their ease; nor do I apprehend the destruction of this empire -from giving, by an act of free grace and indulgence, to two millions of -my fellow-citizens, some share of those rights upon which I have always -been taught to value myself. - -It is said, indeed, that this power of granting, vested in American -assemblies, would dissolve the unity of the empire, which was preserved -entire, although Wales, and Chester, and Durham were added to it. -Truly, Mr. Speaker, I do not know what this unity means, nor has it -ever been heard of, that I know, in the constitutional policy of this -country. The very idea of subordination of parts excludes this notion -of simple and undivided unity. England is the head, but she is not -the head and the members too. Ireland has ever had from the beginning -a separate, but not an independent Legislature, which, far from -distracting, promoted the union of the whole. Every thing was sweetly -and harmoniously disposed through both islands for the conservation -of English dominion and the communication of English liberties. I -do not see that the same principles might not be carried into twenty -islands, and with the same good effect. This is my model with regard to -America, as far as the internal circumstances of the two countries are -the same. I know no other unity of this empire than I can draw from its -example during these periods, when it seemed to my poor understanding -more united than it is now, or than it is likely to be by the present -methods. - -But since I speak of these methods, I recollect, Mr. Speaker, almost -too late, that I promised, before I finished, to say something of the -proposition of the noble Lord [Lord North] on the floor, which has -been so lately received, and stands on your journals. I must be deeply -concerned whenever it is my misfortune to continue a difference with -the majority of this House. But as the reasons for that difference are -my apology for thus troubling you, suffer me to state them in a very -few words. I shall compress them into as small a body as I possibly -can, having already debated that matter at large when the question was -before the committee. - -First, then I cannot admit that proposition of a ransom by auction, -because it is a mere project. It is a thing new; unheard of; -supported by no experience; justified by no analogy; without example -of our ancestors, or root in the Constitution. It is neither regular -parliamentary taxation nor colony grant. “_Experimentum in corpore -vili_”[75] is a good rule, which will ever make me adverse to any trial -of experiments on what is certainly the most valuable of all subjects, -the peace of this empire. - -Secondly, it is an experiment which must be fatal, in the end, to our -Constitution. For what is it but a scheme for taxing the colonies in -the ante-chamber of the noble Lord and his successors? To settle the -quotas and proportions in this House is clearly impossible. You, sir, -may flatter yourself you shall sit a state auctioneer with your hammer -in your hand, and knock down to each colony as it bids. But to settle -(on the plan laid down by the noble Lord) the true proportional payment -for four or five-and-twenty governments according to the absolute and -the relative wealth of each, and according to the British proportion of -wealth and burden, is a wild and chimerical notion. This new taxation -must therefore come in by the back door of the Constitution. Each -quota must be brought to this House ready formed; you can neither -add nor alter. You must register it. You can do nothing farther. -For on what grounds can you deliberate, either before or after the -proposition. You cannot hear the counsel for all these provinces, -quarrelling each on its own quantity of payment, and its proportion to -others. If you should attempt it, the committee of provincial ways and -means, or by whatever other name it will delight to be called, must -swallow up all the time of Parliament. - -Thirdly, it does not give satisfaction to the complaint of the -colonies. They complain that they are taxed without their consent; -you answer, that you will fix the sum at which they shall be taxed. -That is, you give them the very grievance for the remedy. You tell -them indeed, that you will leave the mode to themselves. I really beg -pardon. It gives me pain to mention it; but you must be sensible that -you will _not perform_ this part of the contract. For, suppose the -colonies were to lay the duties which furnished their contingent upon -the importation of your manufactures? you know you would never suffer -such a tax to be laid. You know, too, that you would not suffer many -other modes of taxation; so that when you come to explain yourself, it -will be found that you will neither leave to themselves the quantum nor -the mode, nor, indeed, any thing. The whole is delusion from one end to -the other. - -Fourthly, this method of ransom by auction, unless it be _universally_ -accepted, will plunge you into great and inextricable difficulties. In -what year of our Lord are the proportions of payments to be settled, -to say nothing of the impossibility, that colony agents should have -general powers of taxing the colonies at their discretion? Consider, -I implore you, that the communication by special messages, and orders -between these agents and their constituents on each variation of the -case, when the parties come to contend together, and to dispute on -their relative proportions, will be a matter of delay, perplexity, and -confusion that never can have an end. - -If all the colonies do not appear at the outcry, what is the condition -of those assemblies, who offer, by themselves or their agents, to -tax themselves up to your ideas of their proportion? The refractory -colonies who refuse all composition will remain taxed only to your old -impositions, which, however grievous in principle, are trifling as to -production. The obedient colonies in this scheme are heavily taxed; -the refractory remain unburdened. What will you do? Will you lay new -and heavier taxes by Parliament on the disobedient? Pray consider in -what way you can do it. You are perfectly convinced that in the way of -taxing you can do nothing but at the ports. Now suppose it is Virginia -that refuses to appear at your auction, while Maryland and North -Carolina bid handsomely for their ransom, and are taxed to your quota. -How will you put these colonies on a par? Will you tax the tobacco of -Virginia? If you do, you give its death wound to your English revenue -at home, and to one of the very greatest articles of your own foreign -trade. If you tax the import of that rebellious colony, what do you -tax but your own manufactures, or the goods of some other obedient and -already well-taxed colony? Who has said one word on this labyrinth of -detail, which bewilders you more and more as you enter into it? Who -has presented, who can present you with a clew to lead you out of it? -I think, sir, it is impossible that you should not recollect that the -colony bounds are so implicated in one another (you know it by your -on experiments in the bill for prohibiting the New England fishery) -that you can lay no possible restraints on almost any of them which -may not be presently eluded, if you do not confound the innocent with -the guilty, and burden those whom, upon every principle, you ought to -exonerate. He must be grossly ignorant of America who thinks that, -without falling into this confusion of all rules of equity and policy, -you can restrain any single colony, especially Virginia and Maryland, -the central and most important of them all. - -Let it also be considered, that either in the present confusion you -settle a permanent contingent which will and must be trifling, and -then you have no effectual revenue; or, you change the quota at every -exigency, and then on every new repartition you will have a new quarrel. - -Reflect, besides, that when you have fixed a quota for every colony, -you have not provided for prompt and punctual payment. Suppose one, -two, five, ten years arrears. You cannot issue a Treasury Extent[76] -against the failing colony. You must make new Boston Port bills, new -restraining laws, new acts for dragging men to England for trial. You -must send out new fleets, new armies. All is to begin again. From this -day forward the empire is never to know an hour’s tranquillity. An -intestine fire will be kept alive in the bowels of the colonies, which -one time or another must consume this whole Empire. I allow, indeed, -that the Empire of Germany raises her revenue and her troops by quotas -and contingents; but the revenue of the Empire, and the army of the -Empire, is the worst revenue and the worst army in the world. - -Instead of a standing revenue, you will therefore have a perpetual -quarrel. Indeed, the noble Lord who proposed this project of a ransom -by auction, seemed himself to be of that opinion. His project was -rather designed for breaking the union of the colonies than for -establishing a revenue. He confessed that he apprehended that his -proposal would not be to _their taste_. I say this scheme of disunion -seems to be at the bottom of the project; for I will not suspect that -the noble Lord meant nothing but merely to delude the nation by an airy -phantom which he never intended to realize. But, whatever his views -may be, as I propose the peace and union of the colonies as the very -foundation of my plan, it cannot accord with one whose foundation is -perpetual discord. - -Compare the two. This I offer to give you is plain and simple. The -other, full of perplexed and intricate mazes. This is mild; that, -harsh. This is found by experience effectual for its purposes; the -other is a new project. This is universal; the other, calculated for -certain colonies only. This is immediate in its conciliatory operation; -the other, remote, contingent, full of hazard. Mine is what becomes the -dignity of a ruling people; gratuitous, unconditional, and not held -out as matter of bargain and sale. I have done my duty in proposing it -to you. I have indeed tired you by a long discourse; but this is the -misfortune of those to whose influence nothing will be conceded, and -who must win every inch of their ground by argument. You have heard -me with goodness. May you decide with wisdom! For my part, I feel my -mind greatly disburdened by what I have done to-day. I have been the -less fearful of trying your patience, because on this subject I mean to -spare it altogether in future. I have this comfort, that in every stage -of the American affairs, I have steadily opposed the measures that -have produced the confusion, and may bring on the destruction of this -Empire. I now go so far as to risk a proposal of my own. If I cannot -give peace to my country, I give it to my conscience. - -But what, says the financier, is peace to us without money? Your plan -gives us no revenue. No! But it does—for it secures to the subject the -power of REFUSAL—the first of all revenues. Experience is a cheat, -and fact a liar, if this power in the subject of proportioning his -grant, or of not granting at all, has not been found the richest mine -of revenue ever discovered by the skill or by the fortune of man. It -does not indeed vote you £152,750 11_s._ 2¾_d._, nor any other paltry -limited sum, but it gives the strong box itself, the fund, the bank, -from whence only revenues can arise among a people sensible of freedom: -_Posita luditur arca_.[77] - -Cannot you in England; cannot you at this time of day; cannot you—a -House of Commons—trust to the principle which has raised so mighty a -revenue, and accumulated a debt of near one hundred and forty millions -in this country? Is this principle to be true in England and false -everywhere else? Is it not true in Ireland? Has it not hitherto been -true in the colonies? Why should you presume, that in any country, a -body duly constituted for any functions will neglect to perform its -duty, and abdicate its trust? Such a presumption would go against all -government in all modes. But, in truth, this dread of penury of supply, -from a free assembly, has no foundation in nature. For first observe, -that, besides the desire, which all men have naturally, of supporting -the honor of their own government, that sense of dignity, and that -security of property, which ever attends freedom, has a tendency to -increase the stock of the free community. Most may be taken where -most is accumulated. And what is the soil or climate where experience -has not uniformly proved that the voluntary flow of heaped-up plenty, -bursting from the weight of its own rich luxuriance, has ever run with -a more copious stream of revenue, than could be squeezed from the dry -husks of oppressed indigence, by the straining of all the politic -machinery in the world. - -Next, we know that parties must ever exist in a free country. We know, -too, that the emulations of such parties, their contradictions, their -reciprocal necessities, their hopes and their fears, must send them -all in their turns to him that holds the balance of the state. The -parties are the gamesters, but Government keeps the table, and is sure -to be the winner in the end. When this game is played, I really think -it is more to be feared that the people will be exhausted, than that -Government will not be supplied; whereas, whatever is got by acts of -absolute power, ill obeyed, because odious, or by contracts ill kept, -because constrained, will be narrow, feeble, uncertain, and precarious. - - “Ease would retract - Vows made in pain, as violent and void.”[78] - -I, for one, protest against compounding our demands. I declare against -compounding, for a poor limited sum, the immense ever-growing, eternal -debt which is due to generous government from protected freedom. And so -may I speed in the great object I propose to you, as I think it would -not only be an act of injustice, but would be the worst economy in the -world, to compel the colonies to a sum certain, either in the way of -ransom or in the way of compulsory compact. - -But to clear up my ideas on this subject; a revenue from America -transmitted hither—do not delude yourselves—you never can receive -it—no, not a shilling. We have experienced that from remote countries -it is not to be expected. If, when you attempted to extract revenue -from Bengal, you were obliged to return in loan what you had taken in -imposition, what can you expect from North America? for certainly, if -ever there was a country qualified to produce wealth, it is India; -or an institution fit for the transmission, it is the East India -Company. America has none of these aptitudes. If America gives you -taxable objects on which you lay your duties _here_, and gives you, -at the same time, a surplus by a foreign sale of her commodities -to pay the duties on these objects which you tax at home, she has -performed her part to the British revenue. But with regard to her own -internal establishments, she may, I doubt not she will, contribute in -moderation; I say in moderation, for she ought not to be permitted -to exhaust herself. She ought to be reserved to a war, the weight -of which, with the enemies that we are most likely to have, must be -considerable in her quarter of the globe. There she may serve you, and -serve you essentially. - -For that service, for all service, whether of revenue, trade or empire, -my trust is in her interest in the British Constitution. My hold of the -colonies is in the close affection which grows from common names, from -kindred blood, from similar privileges, and equal protection. These -are ties which, though light as air, are as strong as links of iron. -Let the colonies always keep the idea of their civil rights associated -with your government; they will cling and grapple to you, and no force -under heaven will be of power to tear them from their allegiance. But -let it be once understood that your government may be one thing, and -their privileges another; that these two things may exist without any -mutual relation; the cement is gone; the cohesion is loosened; and -every thing hastens to decay and dissolution. As long as you have the -wisdom to keep the sovereign authority of this country as the sanctuary -of liberty, the sacred temple consecrated to our common faith, wherever -the chosen race and sons of England worship Freedom, they will turn -their faces toward you. The more they multiply, the more friends you -will have. The more ardently they love liberty, the more perfect will -be their obedience. Slavery they can have anywhere. It is a weed that -grows in every soil. They may have it from Spain; they may have it -from Prussia; but, until you become lost to all feeling of your true -interest and your natural dignity, freedom they can have from none but -you. This is the commodity of price, of which you have the monopoly. -This is the true Act of Navigation, which binds to you the commerce -of the colonies, and through them secures to you the wealth of the -world. Deny them this participation of freedom, and you break that sole -bond which originally made, and must still preserve, the unity of the -empire. Do not entertain so weak an imagination as that your registers -and your bonds, your affidavits and your sufferances, your cockets and -your clearances, are what form the great securities of your commerce. -Do not dream that your letters of office, and your instructions, and -your suspending clauses, are the things that hold together the great -contexture of this mysterious whole. These things do not make your -government. Dead instruments, passive tools as they are, it is the -spirit of the English communion that gives all their life and efficacy -to them. It is the spirit of the English Constitution, which, infused -through the mighty mass, pervades, feeds, unites, invigorates, vivifies -every part of the empire, even down to the minutest member.[79] - -Is it not the same virtue which does every thing for us here in -England? - -Do you imagine then, that it is the Land Tax[80] which raises your -revenue? that it is the annual vote in the Committee of Supply, which -gives you your army? or that it is the Mutiny Bill,[81] which inspires -it with bravery and discipline? No! surely no! It is the love of the -people; it is their attachment to their Government, from the sense -of the deep stake they have in such a glorious institution, which -gives you your army and your navy, and infuses into both that liberal -obedience, without which your army would be a base rabble, and your -navy nothing but rotten timber. - -All this, I know well enough, will sound wild and chimerical to the -profane herd of those vulgar and mechanical politicians, who have no -place among us; a sort of people who think that nothing exists but what -is gross and material, and who, therefore, far from being qualified to -be directors of the great movement of empire, are not fit to turn a -wheel in the machine. But to men truly initiated and rightly taught, -these ruling and master principles, which, in the opinion of such -men as I have mentioned, have no substantial existence, are in truth -every thing and all in all. Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the -truest wisdom; and a great empire and little minds go ill together. -If we are conscious of our situation, and glow with zeal to fill our -place as becomes our station and ourselves, we ought to auspicate all -our public proceeding on America with the old warning of the church, -_sursum corda_![82] We ought to elevate our minds to the greatness of -that trust to which the order of Providence has called us. By adverting -to the dignity of this high calling, our ancestors have turned a savage -wilderness into a glorious empire, and have made the most extensive -and the only honorable conquests, not by destroying but by promoting, -the wealth, the number, the happiness of the human race. Let us get an -American revenue as we have got an American empire. English privileges -have made it all that it is; English privileges alone will make it all -it can be. - -In full confidence of this unalterable truth, I now, _quod felix -faustumque sit_,[83] lay the first stone in the temple of peace; and I -move you, - -That the colonies and plantations of Great Britain in North America, -consisting of fourteen separate governments, and containing two -millions and upward of free inhabitants, have not had the liberty and -privilege of electing and sending any knights and burgesses, or others, -to represent them in the high court of Parliament. - - - On the first resolution offered by Mr. Burke the votes in favor of it - were only 78 while those against it were 270. The other resolutions - were not put to vote. This may be regarded as the final answer of - the House of Commons to all attempts to save the colonies except by - force. The policy of war was thus adopted, with what result the world - very well knows. - - - - -ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES. - - -NOTE 1, p. 8.—Ever since the Norman Conquest the royal assent to -measures of Parliament has been given in a form from which there has -been no variation. To “public bills” the words attached are “_le roy -le veult_”; to petitions, “_soit droit fait comme il est désiré_”; and -for grants of money, “_the King heartily thanks his subjects for their -good wills_.” In the present instance, instead of _soit droit fait -comme il est désiré_, the King caused to be appended to the petition, -“The King willeth that right be done according to the laws and customs -of the realm; that the statutes be put into due execution; and that -his subjects may have no cause to complain of any wrong or oppressions -contrary to their just rights and liberties, to the preservation -whereof he holds himself in conscience as well obliged, as of his own -prerogative.”—Rushworth, i., 588. On the forms of royal assent see the -learned account by Selden in “Parliamentary History,” viii., 237. - -NOTE 2, p. 9.—Rushworth, i., 591. The version of Eliot’s speech given -by Rushworth is the one ordinarily reprinted in modern collections. -But in the papers of the Earl of St. Germans, a descendant of Sir John -Eliot, Mr. John Forster, some years ago, found a copy of the speech -corrected by Eliot himself while in prison. This form, much superior to -the others, is the one here reproduced. - -NOTE 3, p. 16.—Eliot, in the expression, “want of councils,” -doubtless alludes to the absorption of the various powers of the -State by Buckingham. The allusion was not without reason, as the -list of Buckingham’s titles shows. He was: Duke, Marquis, and -Earl of Buckingham, Earl of Coventry, Viscount Villiers, Baron -of Whaddon, Great Admiral of England and Ireland, etc., etc., -etc., Governor-General of the Seas and the Ships of the same, -Lieutenant-General Admiral, Captain-General and Governor of his -Majesty’s fleet and army, etc., Minister of the House, Lord Warden, -Chancellor, and Admiral of the Cinque Ports, etc., Constable of Dover -Castle, Justice in Eyrie of the Forest of Chases on this side of the -Trent, Constable of the Castle of Windsor, Gentleman of the Bedchamber, -Knight of the Garter, Privy Councillor, etc. The royal domains that -he had managed to have given to him brought an income of £284,395 a -year. All this was so much drawn from the public treasury. See Bradie’s -“Constitutional History,” new edition, vol. i., p. 424, and Guizot, -“Charles I.,” Bohn’s ed., p. 15. - -NOTE 4, p. 17.—The Elector Palatine, Frederick V., had married -Elizabeth, the daughter of James I., of England, and by his election -as King of Bohemia, became in a certain sense the representative and -head of the Protestant party in Germany at the outbreak of the Thirty -Years’ War in 1618. His cause was badly managed at home, and still -more wretchedly managed in England. Constantly deluded with hopes of -support from the great Protestant power in the North, he was doomed to -perpetual disappointment. His cause was shattered at the first serious -conflict at White Mountain in 1620, and he was obliged to flee to -Holland for his life. Twelve thousand English troops were subsequently -sent to the support of Mansfeldt, but they were so ill managed that -they nearly all perished before they could be of any assistance. The -sacrifice of “honor” and of “men” was most abundant. - -NOTE 5, p. 17.—In 1627 Richelieu was engaged in the work of reducing -La Rochelle, the stronghold of the Huguenots, into subordination to -the King of France. The work had to be done by means of a siege, which -included the construction of a dyke across the mouth of the harbor. -Buckingham, inflamed with resentment against Richelieu, for personal -reasons, determined to relieve the Rochellois. He collected a hundred -ships and seven thousand land forces, and advanced to the rescue. But -on reaching the scene of action, instead of advancing immediately to -relieve the beleaguered city, he disembarked on the Isle of Rhée, -and contented himself with issuing a proclamation, calling upon all -French Protestants to arise for a relief of their brethren. The result -was two-fold. In the first place, La Rochelle, after one of the most -memorable sieges in all history, was reduced; and, secondly, the cause -of Protestantism in France was completely crushed. In response to -Buckingham’s call, the Protestants everywhere arose; but Richelieu was -now at leisure to destroy them, and thus their last hope perished. - -NOTE 6, p. 17.—The beauty of this allusion to the policy and the power -of Queen Elizabeth has very justly been greatly admired. Nothing could -have been more adroit than Eliot’s comparison of the ways of Elizabeth -with those of Buckingham. - -NOTE 7, p. 20.—Having now come to the third division of his subject, -“The insufficiency of our generals,” Eliot naturally pauses before -dragging Buckingham personally upon the scene. But for what follows the -Duke was personally responsible. - -NOTE 8, p. 21.—In 1625 an expedition of eighty sail had been fitted -out for the purpose of intercepting the Spanish treasure ships from -America. But by reason of the incompetency of the commander there was -no concert of action in the fleet, and the treasure ships escaped, -though seven of them that would have richly repaid the expedition might -easily have been taken. But not wishing to return empty handed, the -commander effected a landing near Cadiz. The soldiers broke open the -wine-cellars and became so drunk that when the commander determined to -withdraw, several hundred were left to perish under the knives of the -peasants. - -NOTE 9, p. 24.—What the orator contemptuously calls the “journey -to Algiers,” was nothing less than an expedition sent out for its -conquest. But it fared like the most of Buckingham’s other “journeys.” -The Algerines turned upon the English; and thirty-five ships engaged -in the Mediterranean trade were destroyed, and their crews sold into -slavery. - -NOTE 10, p. 43.—For powers and privileges of the early English -Parliaments, see Stubbs, ii., §§ 220–233, and 271–298. Also on the -right of Parliament to make a grant depend on redress of grievances, -Hallam: “Mid. Ages,” Am. ed., iii., p. 84, _seq._ It is a curious fact -that in the Early Middle Ages there was a very general reluctance on -the part of towns to send representatives. Hallam: “Mid. Ages,” iii., -111. Cox: “Ant. Parl. Elections,” 84, 93, 98. Todd: “Parl. Govt.,” ii., -21. Hearn: “Govt. in Eng.,” 394–407. - -NOTE 11, p. 43.—Bagehot, in his remarkable work on the English -Constitution (p. 133) lays much stress on what he calls “the teaching” -and “informing” functions of the House of Commons. “In old times one -office of the House of Commons was to inform the Sovereign what was -wrong.” - -NOTE 12, p. 45.—There is a remarkable letter written by Thomas Allured, -a member of the Parliament of 1628, which describes what took place -on the day alluded to. The letter is preserved in Rushworth’s Hist., -Coll. i., 609–10, and in part is reproduced in Carlyle’s Cromwell, i., -46. After saying that “Upon Tuesday, Sir John Eliot moved that as we -intended to furnish his Majesty with money, we should also supply him -with counsel,” he says: “But next day, Wednesday, we had a message -from his Majesty, by the Speaker ‘that we should husband the time -and despatch our old business without entertaining new.’ Yesterday, -Thursday morning, a new message was brought us, which I have here -inclosed, which, requiring us not to cast or lay any aspersion on -any Minister of his Majesty, the House was much affected thereby. -Sir Robert Philips, of Somershire, spoke and mingled his words with -weeping. Mr. Pym did the like. Sir Edward Cook, overcome with passion, -seeing the desolation likely to ensue, was forced to sit down, when he -began to speak, by abundance of tears. Yea, the Speaker in his speech -could not refrain from weeping and shedding of tears, besides a great -many others whose grief made them dumb. But others bore up in that -storm and encouraged the rest.” The writer then states how the House -resolved itself into a Committee, how the Speaker who was in close -communication with the King, asked for leave to withdraw for half an -hour, and how “It was ordered that no other man leave the House on pain -of going to the Tower.” He then continues: “Sir Edward Cook told us -‘He now saw God had not accepted of our humble and moderate carriages -and fair proceedings; and he feared the reason was, we had not dealt -sincerely with the King and country, and made a true representation -of all these miseries, which he, for his part, repented that he had -not done sooner. And, therefore, not knowing whether he should ever -again speak in this House, he would now do it freely; and so did here -protest, that the author and cause of all these miseries was the DUKE -OF BUCKINGHAM,’ which was entertained and answered with a cheerful -acclamation of the House. As when one good hound recovers the scent, -the rest come in with full cry, so they pursued it, and every one came -home, and laid the blame where he thought the fault was. And as we -were putting it to the question whether he should be _named_ in our -_Remonstrance_, as the chief cause of all our miseries at home and -abroad, the Speaker having been, not half an hour, but three hours -absent, and with the King, returned, bringing this message: ‘That the -House should then rise, adjourn till the morrow morning, no Committee -sit or other business go on in the interim.’ What we expect this -morning, God in heaven knows! We shall meet betimes this morning, -partly for the business’ sake, and partly because two days ago we made -an order, that whoever comes in after Prayers shall pay twelve pence to -the poor.” - -The events alluded to by Pym in this rapid indictment are all given in -considerable detail in “Parl. Hist.,” ii., 442–525. On the 2d of March, -when Eliot moved a new Remonstrance, the Speaker refused to put the -motion, alleging an order from the King. The House insisted, whereupon -he was about to leave the Chair. Holles, Valentine, and some others -forced him back into it. “God’s wounds,” said Holles, “you shall sit -till it please the House to rise.” And much else of a similar nature. -“Parl. Hist.,” ii., 487–491. - -NOTE 13, p. 47.—The moderation of Pym in this part of his speech will -appear evident to every one at all familiar with the course of events -under the influence of Laud. A brief but excellent account of the -influence of that prelate’s policy is given by Guizot, _Eng. Rev._, -Bohn ed., pp. 49–59. - -NOTE 14, p. 50.—The particular privileges here enumerated were -all contrary to the statute passed in the reign of Elizabeth. The -significance of the tolerance of Catholics was chiefly in the fact that -during the same time the _Protestant_ Nonconformist was subjected to -every indignity for refusing to bow his conscience to the prescribed -formula of doctrine and ceremony. Laud’s favor toward the Catholics was -so marked that the Pope offered him a Cardinal’s hat. Laud’s “Diary,” -p. 49. - -NOTE 15, p. 51.—The most notorious cases were Dr. Montague and Dr. -Mainwaring, who both received rich benefices and afterwards became -Catholics. A daughter of the Duke of Devonshire entered the Catholic -Church. When Laud asked for her reasons she responded: “I hate to be -in a crowd, and as I perceive your Grace and many others are hastening -toward Rome, I want to get there comfortably by myself before you.” - -NOTE 16, p. 52.—The Crown and the Archbishop regarded Sunday “simply -as one of the holidays of the Church,” and encouraged the people in -pastimes and recreations. A “Book of Sports” had been issued in the -time of James I., pointing out the amusements the people might properly -indulge in. Laud now ordered that every minister should read the -declaration in favor of Sunday pastimes from the pulpit. Some refused. -One had the wit to obey, and to close his reading with the declaration: -“You have heard read, good people, both the commandment of God and the -commandment of man. Obey which you please.” As the result of disobeying -the command, however, many were silenced or deposed. In the diocese of -Norwich alone, thirty clergymen were expelled from their cures. See -Green: “Hist. of Eng. Peo.,” Eng. ed., iii., 160. - -NOTE 17, p. 54.—Of this part of Pym’s speech Mr. Forster says: “A more -massive document was never given to history. It has all the solidity, -weight, and gravity of a judicial record, while it addresses itself -equally to the solid good sense of the masses of the people, and to -the cultivated understandings of the time. The deliberative gravity, -the force, the broad, decided manner of this great speaker, contrast -forcibly with those choice specimens of awkward affectations and -labored extravagances, that have not seldom passed in modern times for -oratory.” “Life of Pym,” p. 99. - -NOTE 18, p. 58.—The seventh and twelfth of James I. were 1610 and 1615. - -NOTE 19, p. 58.—The Thirty Years’ War in the Palatinate in which the -sons-in-law of James I. were the representative of the Protestant cause. - -NOTE 20, p. 62.—A partial list of fines imposed between 1629 and 1640 -is given in Guizot, _Eng. Rev._, 445. The list includes “Hillyard, for -having sold saltpetre, £5,000”; “John Averman, for not having followed -the King’s orders in the fabrication of soap, £13,000”; “Morley, for -having struck Sir George Thesbold within the precinct of the Court, -£10,000”; and a vast number of other similar ones. - -NOTE 21, p. 64.—The tax known as ship money, which had its origin in -the necessity of universal defence when the country was threatened with -invasion was attempted by Charles but resisted by John Hampden. The -case went to trial, and the judges by a bare majority decided in favor -of the legality of the tax. The decision is, however, not now regarded -as having been correct. The case is reviewed in Hallam, “Con. Hist.,” -i., 430. - -NOTE 22, p. 65.—The “bounds and perambulations” were the boundary -marks and legally established roads and paths. This was at a time when -there were very few, if any, inclosures. The possibilities of dispute -were taken advantage of by the Government in a way that was enormously -oppressive. For example, the Earl of Salisbury was fined £20,000 for -“encroachments,” Westmorland £19,000, etc. Guizot: _Eng. Rev._, 445. - -NOTE 23, p. 68.—The application of this grievance was particularly -burdensome in the vicinity of London. Exemption from demolition was -purchased by the immediate payment of fine amounting to a three years’ -tax. - -NOTE 24, p. 69.—The King had specifically agreed in the “Petition -of Right” to correct the grievance here complained of. And yet it -continued after eleven years to be “a growing evil.” - -NOTE 25, p. 72.—The “projectors” referred to were those undertaking -monopolies. The “referees” were law officers appointed by the Crown -to decide all legal questions arising in regard to monopolies. In -1621 Buckingham threw the blame of all irregularities in the matter -of monopolies on the “referees,” and, on motion of Cranfield, a -Parliamentary inquiry was made into their conduct. The matter is -explained in Gardiner’s “History of England,” 2d ed., iv., 48; and in -Church’s “Bacon,” 128. - -NOTE 26, p. 82.—The reader who has followed this speech so far -certainly will not be surprised that Pym at length experienced some -“confusion of memory.” The “opportunity” was never afforded, as -parliament was dissolved within three days. - -NOTE 27, p. 100.—The reference here is to Lord Bute, whose influence -with the King had secured the overthrow of Pitt’s ministry in -1761. Bute was a politician whose chief power was in his gifts for -intrigue. Though for these very qualities he was liked by the King, -he was detested by the people,—as Macaulay says,—“by many as a Tory, -by many as a favorite, and by many as a Scot.” For a long time it -was not prudent for him to appear in the streets without disguising -himself. The populace were in the habit of representing him by “a -jackboot, generally accompanied by a petticoat.” This they paraded as a -contemptuous pun on his name, and ended by fastening it on the gallows -or committing it to the flames. Pitt had been charged with prejudice -against Bute on account of his being a Scotchman. It was to refute -this charge that he alludes to his having been the first to employ the -Scotch Highlanders. - -NOTE 28, p. 104.—This whole passage may well be compared with that on -the same subject in Lord Mansfield’s speech on p. 150. Compare also the -argument of Burke on American Taxation. - -NOTE 29, p. 105.—This is believed to be the first reference made in -Parliament to the necessity of legislative reform. The younger Pitt -advocated a reform during the early years of his career; but the -horrors of the French Revolution so shocked public opinion, that no -change for the better could be made until the Ministry of Earl Grey in -1832. - -NOTE 30, p. 110.—It was not until the reign of Henry VIII. that the -right of representation in Parliament was extended to Wales, and the -counties of Chester and Monmouth. To the county of Durham the right was -not given till 1673. Until these counties were represented, they were -not directly taxed except for purely local purposes. - -NOTE 31, p. 114.—One of the speakers, Mr. Nugent, had said that “a -pepper-corn, in acknowledgment of the right to tax America, was of more -value than millions without it.” - -NOTE 32, p. 126.—The capitulation of Burgoyne’s army took place October -17, 1777, just one month before the delivery of Chatham’s speech. There -was still much doubt in England in regard to the magnitude of the -disaster. - -NOTE 33, p. 132.—Negotiations had been going on between the colonies -and France for more than a year, though this fact, of course, was not -known in England. Silas Deane had been appointed Commissioner to France -even before the Declaration of Independence. In Nov. of 1776, Lee and -Franklin were appointed by Congress to negotiate a treaty of friendship -and commerce with the French king. But the French were wary of -alliance, though they were willing to wink at the secret arrangements -by which supplies were furnished by Beaumarchais. These supplies, -furnished in the autumn of 1777, were detained, and did not reach -America in time to prevent the terrible sufferings at Valley Forge in -the following winter. When news of Burgoyne’s surrender reached France, -the French Government no longer hesitated, and a final treaty by which -France acknowledged the Independence of the United States was signed on -the 6th of February, 1778. For most interesting and authentic details, -see Parton’s “Life of Franklin,” vol. ii., ch. vii. - -NOTE 34, p. 140.—The walls of the old room in which the House of Lords -assembled were covered with tapestries, one of which represented the -English fleet led out to conflict with the Spanish Armada by Lord -Effingham Howard, an ancestor of Lord Suffolk. - -NOTE 35, p. 160.—This argument of Mansfield drawn from the Navigation -Acts is fully refuted by Burke in his speech on “American Taxation.” -Burke takes the ground that none of these acts were passed for the sake -of revenue, but that all of them were designed simply to give direction -to trade. He also shows that there is a marked distinction between -_external_ and _internal_ taxation. The whole of Burke’s speech may -well be read with profit in connection with that of Mansfield. - -NOTE 36, p. 164.—This reference is probably to James Otis’ volume -published in London in 1765, entitled: “The Rights of the Colonies -Asserted and Proved.” It had previously been published in Boston, after -having been read in MS. in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. -The instructions of May, 1764, contained in the appendix were drawn -up by Samuel Adams. It is possible, however, that the orator referred -to Otis’ “Vindication of the Conduct of the House of Representatives -of the Province of Mass. Bay,” which had appeared in 1762, and which -contained in a nutshell the whole American cause. John Adams said of -it: “Look over the Declarations of Rights and Wrongs issued by Congress -in 1774; look into the Declaration of Independence of 1776; look into -the writings of Dr. Price and Dr. Priestley. Look into all the French -Constitutions of Government; and, to cap the climax, look into Mr. -Thomas Paine’s ‘Common Sense,’ ‘Crisis,’ and ‘Rights of Man,’ and -what can you find that is not to be found in this Vindication of the -House of Representatives?” During the same year also, Otis published -“A Vindication of the British Colonies,” and “Considerations on behalf -of the Colonists, in a letter to a Noble Lord.” The London reprint of -the “Vindication of the British Colonies” was accompanied with the -statement: “This tract is republished, _not for any excellence of the -work, but for the eminence of the author_.” We see here the leader in -the American disputes declaring the universal opinion of the Colonies -against the authority of the British Parliament. - -NOTE 37, p. 185.—This exordium is almost bad enough to justify -Hazlitt’s remark: “Most of his speeches have a sort of parliamentary -preamble to them; there is an air of affected modesty and ostentatious -trifling in them; he seems fond of coquetting with the House of -Commons, and is perpetually calling the Speaker out to dance a minuet -with him before he begins.” - -NOTE 38, p. 185.—This was an Act to restrain the Commerce of the -Provinces of New England, and to confine it to Great Britain, Ireland, -and the British West Indies. - -NOTE 39, p. 187.—Reference is made to the Repeal of the Stamp Act, -which took place in Rockingham’s Administration by a vote of 275 to 161. - -NOTE 40, p. 189.—This rather striking thought was firmly implanted in -Burke’s mind. In his paper on “Present Discontent,” he apologized for -“stepping a little out of the ordinary sphere” of private people. In -one of his letters he says: “We live in a nation where, at present, -there is scarce a single head that does not teem with politics. Every -man has contrived a scheme of government for the benefit of his -fellow-subjects.” - -NOTE 41, p. 191.—It must be confessed this is a little pompous. -Burke’s scheme was simply to yield to the colonies what they claimed, -and it was not good policy to pronounce such an encomium on it in -advance. There were those who said: “On this simple principle of -granting every thing required, and stipulating for nothing in return, -we can terminate every difference throughout the world.” - -NOTE 42, p. 191.—The Congress of Philadelphia in 1774 declared that -after the Repeal of the Stamp Act the colonies “fell into their ancient -state of unsuspecting confidence in the mother country.” Burke comments -on this statement in his letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol in 1777. - -NOTE 43, p. 192.—Lord North’s plan of conciliation, already described -in the introduction to this speech. - -NOTE 44, p. 193.—The address to the King declaring that rebellion -existed in Massachusetts, requesting the King to take energetic -measures to suppress it, and pledging the coöperation of Parliament. - -NOTE 45, p. 196.—The computation carefully made by Mr. Bancroft -(“Hist.,” 8vo ed., vol. iv., p. 128) more than justifies Burke’s -figures. Bancroft gives the following: - - -----+-----------+---------+---------- - | White. | Black. | Total. - -----+-----------+---------+---------- - 1750 | 1,040,000 | 220,000 | 1,260,000 - 1754 | 1,165,000 | 260,000 | 1,425,000 - 1760 | 1,385,000 | 310,000 | 1,695,000 - 1770 | 1,850,000 | 462,000 | 2,312,000 - 1780 | 2,383,000 | 562,000 | 2,945,000 - 1790 | 3,177,257 | 752,069 | 3,927,326 - -----+-----------+---------+---------- - -See Johnson’s “Taxation no Tyranny” (Works, x., 96) in which he -savagely speaks of “3,000,000 Whigs, fierce for liberty, which multiply -with the fecundity of their own rattlesnakes.” He thought the eggs -should be destroyed. - -NOTE 46, p. 197.—Reference to the legal maxim, “_De minimis non jurat -lex_.” - -NOTE 47, p. 198.—Mr. Glover who appeared at the bar to support a -petition of the West Indian planters praying that peace might be -concluded with the colonies. - -NOTE 48, p. 199.—Davenant afterward published a somewhat important work -entitled “Discourses on Revenue and Trade,” and it was probably the MS. -of this to which Burke referred. - -NOTE 49, p. 202.—Burke’s reasoning has been more than justified by -subsequent history. Cobden: “Writings,” i., 98, more than fifty -years after Burke spoke, declared: “The people of the United States -constitute our largest and most valuable connection. The business we -carry on with them is nearly twice as extensive as that with any other -people.” The American official returns since 1850 show that more than -one third of the imports came from England, and that more than one half -of the exports go to England. - -NOTE 50, p. 202.—A curious adaptation from Virgil. Ecl. iv., 26. -If, while he was changing _parentis_ to _parentum_ he had omitted -_poterit_, he would at least have left a good Latin sentence. But Burke -quoted from memory and was often inexact, not only in the choice of -words, but also in pronunciation. Harford relates that he was once -indulging in some very severe animadversions on Lord North’s management -of the public purse. While this philippic was going on, North appeared -to be half-asleep, “heaving backward and forward like a great turtle.” -Burke introduced the aphorism: _magnum vectígal est parsimonia_, -putting a wrong accent on the second word and calling it _véctigal_. -The scholarly ear of North was sufficiently attentive to catch the -mistake, and he shouted out _vectígal_. “I thank the noble lord,” -responded Burke, “for the correction, more particularly as it gives me -the opportunity to repeat what he greatly needs to have reiterated upon -him.” He then thundered out: “_Magnum vectígal est parsimonia_.” - -NOTE 51, p. 206.—In allusion to the well-known story told at length -by Valerius Maximus, lib. v., 7; and in briefer form by Pliny, “Nat. -Hist.,” vii., 36. - -NOTE 52, p. 208.—The whole of this magnificent passage was founded upon -very substantial facts. Massachusetts had 183 vessels, carrying 13,820 -tons in the North, and 120 vessels, carrying 14,026 tons in the South. -It was in 1775, the very year of Burke’s speech, that English ships -were first fitted out to follow the Americans into the fisheries of the -South Seas. See _Quarterly Review_, lxiii., 318. - -NOTE 53, p. 211.—At the time of the great struggle against the Stuarts. -In the _Annual Register_, for 1775, p. 14, Burke says: “The American -freeholders at present are nearly, in point of condition, what the -English yeomen were of old when they rendered us formidable to all -Europe, and our name celebrated throughout the world. The former, from -many obvious circumstances, are more enthusiastical lovers of liberty -than even our yeomen were.” - -NOTE 54, p. 213.—The differences here indicated are fully explained in -Marshall’s “American Colonies,” Story “On the Constitution,” Lodge’s -“English Colonies in America,” and more briefly in vol. iv., chap, vi., -of Bancroft. It is noteworthy that it was not in the most democratic -forms of government that the most violent resolutions were passed. See -_Ann. Reg._ for 1775, p. 6. - -NOTE 55, p. 218.—General Gage had prohibited the _calling_ of town -meetings after August 1, 1774. The meetings held before August 1st were -adjourned over from time to time, and consequently there was no need -of “_calling_” meetings. Gage complained that by such means they could -keep their meetings alive for ten years. See Bancroft, vii., chap. -viii., and _Ann. Reg._, 1775, p. 11. - -NOTE 56, p. 219.—The “_ministrum fulminis alitem_” of Horace, bk. iv., -ode i. - -NOTE 57, p. 227.—In 1766, Lieutenant-Governor Fauquier had written to -the Lords in Trade: “In disobedience to all proclamations, in defiance -of law, and without the least shadow of right to claim or defend their -property, people are daily going out to settle beyond the Alleghany -Mountains.” Migration hither was prohibited. “But the prohibition -only set apart the Great Valley as the sanctuary of the unhappy, the -adventurous, and the free; of those whom enterprise, or curiosity, or -disgust at the forms of life in the old plantations raised above royal -edicts.” Bancroft, vi., 33. - -NOTE 58, p. 233.—Reference is made to the brutal attack of Sir Edward -Coke upon Sir Walter Raleigh, the details of which are given in -Howell’s “State Trials,” ii., 7. - -NOTE 59, p. 240.—Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” ii., 594. - -NOTE 60, p. 240.—This passage has been much admired for the skill with -which Burke excludes the general question of the right of taxation, and -confines himself to the expediency of particular methods. But this was -in accordance with all of Burke’s political philosophy. In his “Appeal -from the Old to the New Whigs,” he announces the principle which -governs him in all such cases: “Nothing universal can be rationally -affirmed on any moral or any political subject. Pure metaphysical -abstraction does not belong to these matters. The lines of morality -are not like ideal lines of mathematics. They are broad and deep as -well as long. They admit of exceptions; they demand modifications. -These exceptions and modifications are not made by the process of -logic, but by the rules of prudence. _Prudence is not only the first in -rank of the virtues political and moral, but she is the director, the -regulator, the standard of them all._” - -NOTE 61, p. 244.—The pamphlet from which Lord North “seems to have -borrowed these ideas,” was by Dean Tucker, a work to which, Dr. Johnson -in “Taxation no Tyranny,” (Works, x., 139) pays his respects, and which -Burke had alluded to in no very complimentary terms in his speech on -“American Taxation.” But Mr. Forster, in his “Life of Goldsmith,” i., -412, speaks of Tucker as “the only man of that day who thoroughly -anticipated the judgment and experience of our own on the question of -the American colonies.” The fact is that Tucker was a “free trader,” -and was in favor of the establishment of complete freedom of trade, as -the best that could possibly be done with the colonies. To an account -of Dean Tucker’s pamphlets several interesting pages are given in -Smyth’s “Modern History,” Lecture xxxii., Am. ed., p. 571, _seq._ - -NOTE 62, p. 248.—The English settlers in Ireland were obliged to keep -themselves within certain boundaries known as “The Pale.” They were -distinct from the Irish, and were governed by English lords. By an act -in the time of James I., the privileges of the Pale were first extended -to the rest of Ireland. - -NOTE 63, p. 249.—In 1612, Sir John Davis, who had been much in Ireland, -and knew Irish affairs better than any other person in his time, -published a book entitled: “Discoverie of the true Causes why Ireland -was never entirely subdued until the beginning of his Majestie’s happy -reign.” - -NOTE 64, p. 250.—Under Henry III., Wales was ruled by its own Prince -Llewellen, who secured the assistance of Henry against a rebellious -son, and as a reward acknowledged fealty as a vassal. It was not till -Edward I., that the conquest was completed. O’Connell once said: “Wales -was once the Ireland of the English Government,” and then proceeded to -apply to Ireland what Burke here says of Wales.—“O’Connell’s speech of -Aug. 30, 1826.” - -NOTE 65, p. 252.—When the reduction to order of Wales was found -impossible by ordinary means, the English King granted to the Lords -Marchers “such lands as they could win from the Welshmen.” On -these lands the lords were allowed “to take upon themselves such -prerogative and authority as were fit for the quiet government of -the country.” About the castles of the Lords Marchers grew up the -towns of Wales. Within their domains they exercised English laws; -but on the unconquered lands the old Welsh laws still prevailed. The -courts, therefore, had to administer both forms of law, and there was -consequently great confusion even in the most peaceful times. There -were fifteen acts of penal regulation, providing that no Welshman -should be allowed to become a burgess, or purchase any land in town. -Henry IV., ii., chaps. xii.-xx. In the time of Edward I., the special -privileges of the Lords Marchers were swept away. See Stubbs’ “Con. -Hist.,” 8vo ed., i., 514–520, and ii., 117–137; Scott’s “Betrothed,” -and the Appendix to Pennant’s “Tour in Wales.” - -NOTE 66, p. 254.—Horace, “Odes,” bk. i., 12, 27. The allusion is to the -deification of Augustus and the superintending influence of Castor and -Pollux. The passage was translated by Gifford thus: - - “When their auspicious star - To the sailor shines afar, - The troubled waters leave the rocks at rest; - The clouds are gone, the winds are still, - The angry wave obeys their will, - And calmly sleeps upon the ocean’s breast.” - -NOTE 67, p. 258.—Milton’s “Comus,” l. 633, not quite correctly quoted. - -NOTE 68, p. 261.—Horace, “Satir.,” ii., 2. “The precept is not mine. -Ofellus gave it in his rustic strain irregular, but wise.” - -NOTE 69, p. 261.—In allusion to the declaration in Exodus xx., 25: “If -thou lift up thy tool upon it [the altar] thou hast polluted it.” - -NOTE 70, p. 265.—In allusion to a statement that had been made by -Grenville. Burke said in his speech on American taxation: “He has -declared in this House an hundred times, that the colonies could not -legally grant any revenues to the Crown.” - -NOTE 71, p. 278.—This was in strict accordance with Burke’s political -philosophy. In a letter to the Sheriff of Bristol, he wrote: “Of one -thing I am perfectly clear, that it is not by deciding the suit, but by -compromising the difference, that peace can be restored or kept.” - -NOTE 72, p. 278.—Shak.: “Othello,” Act iii., Scene v. So at the -beginning of his paper on the “Present Discontents,” Burke speaks of -“reputation, the most precious possession of every individual.” In -the fourth letter on a “Regicide Peace,” he said: “Our ruin will be -disguised in profit, and the sale of a few wretched baubles will bribe -a degenerate people to barter away the most precious jewel of their -souls.” - -NOTE 73, p. 279.—“I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of -love.”—HOSEA, xi., 4. - -NOTE 74, p. 279.—Another illustration of Burke’s habit of making use of -the inestimable maxims of the great Greek politician. - -NOTE 75, p. 282.—“Experiment upon a worthless subject” was a maxim -among old scientific inquirers. - -NOTE 76, p. 286.—A “Treasury Extent” was a writ of Commission for -valuing lands and tenements for satisfying a Crown debt. - -NOTE 77, p. 289.—The quotation is from Juvenal i., l. 90, and refers to -the habit of the Roman gambler. Gifford renders the passage: - - “For now no more the pocket’s stores supply - The boundless charges of the desperate die, - _The chest itself is staked_.” - -NOTE 78, p. 291.—Milton’s Paradise Lost, iv., 106. This also is a -misquotation:—_retract_ should be _recant_. Burke seldom took the -trouble to verify his quotations, but relied upon a powerful, though -slightly fallible, memory. - -NOTE 79, p. 294.—This passage is perhaps one of the noblest and -most characteristic of all Burke’s utterances. And yet, in all its -magnificence it shows how largely the orator was indebted to his -reading. Mr. E. J. Payne, as an illustration of the way in which -Burke “repays his rich thievery of the Bible and the English poets,” -has pointed out the sources from which the most striking expressions -were consciously or unconsciously derived. The closing sentence in an -adaptation from Virgil, Æn. vi., 726; “My trust is in her,” is from -the Psalms; “Light as air,” etc., from Othello; “Grapple to you,” -from Hamlet; “No force under heaven,” etc., from St. Paul; “Chosen -race,” Tate & Brady; “Perfect obedience” and “mysterious whole,” from -Pope. Most striking of all, the passage in which “the chosen race” is -represented “turning their faces towards you,” is from 1. Kings, viii., -44–45. “If the people go out to battle, or whithersoever thou shall -send them, and shall pray unto the Lord toward the city, which thou -hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built in thy name, then -hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain -their cause.” - -NOTE 80, p. 295.—Until 1798 the Land Tax yielded from one third to one -half of all the revenue; but in that year it was made permanent, and -now yields only about one sixty-fourth. - -NOTE 81, p. 295.—The Mutiny Bill plays a very curious part in English -Constitutional usage. In the Declaration of Rights it was declared -that “standing armies and martial law in peace, without the consent of -Parliament, are illegal.” The “consent of Parliament” is now secured -in the following manner: An appropriation is made to support such an -army as is needed, but all of the provisions of the appropriating bill -are limited _to one year_. In order to maintain even the nucleus of -an army, therefore, it is absolutely necessary that Parliament should -be in session every year. This is the only provision guaranteeing an -annual assembling of Parliament. - -NOTE 82, p. 296.—_Sursum Corda_: “let your hearts arise,” was the form -of a call to silent prayer at certain intervals in the Roman Catholic -service. - -NOTE 83, p. 296.—_Let it be happy and prosperous_, was a form of prayer -among the Romans at the beginning of an important undertaking. - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant -preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. - -Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced -quotation marks retained. - -Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained; occurrences of -inconsistent hyphenation have not been changed. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Representative British Orations with -Introductions and Explanatory Notes,, by Charles Kendall Adams - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REPRESENTATIVE BRITISH ORATIONS, VOL 1 *** - -***** This file should be named 55489-0.txt or 55489-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/4/8/55489/ - -Produced by Larry B. 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