THE claim in favour of the parent state to raise a revenue on the co­lonies, by parliamentary authority, has been repeatedly and unanswer­ably refuted. Not a man among us, but the dependants on ministe­rial authority, whose sentiments ever run in the same channel with their interest, wants arguments to convince him that our happy constitution entitles us to give or withhold our money, at our own dis­cretions. In this, we are only on a f [...]oting with our fellow subjects in Britain. Nor [...]as any reason, of weight, been assigned, to shew either cause or authority to deprive us of the enjoyment of so in­valuable a blessing Without it liberty is a meer phantom; without it the horrid chains of slavery are rivetted on us in reality. To effect this, and by that means, to raise a revenue on the colonies, sufficient to place the minister on firm ground at home, while he [...]ramples on the liberty of the sub­ject, both there and in America, has been the steady pursuit of the ministry for many years past. To this end, though doubtless not ap­parent to Parliament, acts have been framed, im­posing duties on our trade, for the express purpose of augmenting his Majesty's revenue, and enacting forfeitures on a breach of those acts to be recovered before a ministerial tool, in an admiralty court, and against the genius of our [...] a trial by our peers. To avail himself [...] necessities, the minister procured the mem [...]r [...]ble st [...]mp act, fabri­cated to execute itself as it subjected us to the ne­cessity either of a compliance, or a denial of private justice, or a total stagnation of business. How conspicuous, on this occasion, was the virtue of our colonists? We volun [...]rily shut up our courts of justice, and submitted to a suspension of all such in­tercourse, as could not be maintained without the le­gal formality of certain written instruments. This ex­pedient▪ & the equally self-denying resolution against the importation of dry goods, gave the keenest edge to the sufferings of individuals in the mother coun­try, and by that means compell'd a total repeal of that, as well as a partial revocation of what is em­phatically called the revenue act. Had we persisted a little longer, the duty on tea would doubtless have been ta [...]en off. But flattered by our want of per­severance, a flagitious ministry are still pursuing the design to levy that duty; not so much expecting it will afford any important augmentation of the re­venue, as to establish thereby, both in principle and precedent, that parliament can constitutionally tax us at discretion. The recision of the non impor­tation agreement, [...] was not total: Tea being left subject to duty, its importation was prohibited by a mercantile resolve. To execute this, the ships in our dry good trade, were interdicted the importation of tea. No expe­dient, therefore, was left to the ministry, unwea­ried in their endeavours for the establishment of tyranny; but that of engaging a body of men, on [Page 4] the other side of the water, to import the accu [...]sed and bitter herb among us, subject to the duty im­posed by the revenue act. To execute the scheme, a base corrupt set of monopolists, the East India company, who under the forms of law had long since engrossed to themselves the importation of that, and many other valuable articles of commerce into the British empire, lent their aid. Contrary to the principles upon which they were incorporated, and in defiance of the commercial rights of all the rest of their fellow subjects, they bec [...]me the sordid retailers of that commodity, throughout the colo­nies. Like knaves they sold their property to a corrupt administration, or like desperate bankrupts risked it in the wicked and peri [...]lous design of im­proving their stock, by enslaving America: A number of ships loaded with that dutied article, were sent to different colonies on the continent, purely to put our virtue to the trial, and in hopes that their cargoes would be landed without opposi­tion. It is obvious, that had the designs of our enemies succeeded, the right of parliament to tax us, had, by our own consent, been established.— Had those teas been landed, the duties must have been paid.—The bare permission of the import would have implied our submission to the tax, And the impossibility of preventing a sale of the commo­dity, have insured the levy of that tax. Besides the ministry and the East India company were ap­prized, in the fullest manner, of our fixed resolu­tion against receiving tea on those terms. Pre­sumptiously, therefore, they undertook to execute a scheme, highly unjust in it self, and which no individual dared to attempt. Should a poll or land tax be imposed upon us by parliament, should an attempt be made to levy it, would not resistance be the necessary consequence? It certainly would; because in that case nothing but resistance could rescue us from the most abject vassalage; upon such a principle of resistance, the British constitution is founded, and to the authority of that principle do we owe the blessings of the revolution, and the sin­gular blessing of being governed by the august house of Hanover. Now in what does the duty in ques­tion differ from a poll or land tax? Tea is become a necessary of life to us▪ But were it only a conve­niency▪ by what rule or [...] of our [...] can a revenue be raised on the conveniencies, or even the luxuries of life, without our consent. The attempt to load us with the duty in question, how­ever designed, was in reality, a stab at the vitals of our liberty. The only alternative left us, is, to op­pose with prudence, and be free; or submit impli­citly and be slaves. No man, therefore, who coolly reflects on the necessary and destructive consequen­ces, that must attend the unopposed importation of any commodity for consumption, subject to a duty, imposed not only without our consent, but against our express and avowed constitutiona [...] diss [...]t, can wonder at the conduct of our spirited brethren, the Bostonians; they were complimented with the first token of ministerial favour, by the arrival of the tea ships destined for their port—With a patience that will always do honour to their prudence, they deferred its destruction to the last moment: they demonstrated to the ship Captains and consignato­ries the most determined resolution against the landing of the cargoes; remonstrated in the most pressing terms, against every fruitless expectation on this head, and urged every motive to hasten the departure of the ships: But in vain; those who were entrusted with the care of the commodity, turned a deaf ear to every argument and persuasion, either vainly hoping, that it might at last be landed without opposition, or that it would be seized and sold for payment of the duty, with as much advan­tage to the proprietors, thro' the favour and conni­vance of government, as if it had been regularly entered and the duties paid in conformity to the revenue act—Little however did they imagine, that the people would have resolution enough to sacrifice it to the liberty of their country: The hour at length arrived, when the duty was payable, or the tea confiscable; no alternative being left, it was thrown into the harbour: This was not an act of wanton and lawless sport, but of inevitable necessity. The tea could not have been landed without pay­ment of the duty. This the revenue act expressly forbade; the discharge of that duty, with the per­mission of the people, would have been conclusive evidence, of their admission that a British Parlia­ment have a right to tax us, and the Bostonians, in that case, could with little grace have disputed that right, on the arrival of future cargoes. It is there­fore obvious, that the subject of contest, between the ministry and those injured subjects, is the parli­amentary claim of taxation; a claim totally unte­nable—upon any principles in our constitution, and as totally inadmissable by British subjects; the pro­perty sacrificed, is indeed made one of the causes for punishing the Bostonians, but the supposed in­jury, done to his Majesty's revenue, is the real and capital reason. The ability and the honour of the colonies, are sufficient to reimburse the sufferers, with interest. They will doubtless do it, when ever par [...]iament may think proper to renounce the claim of taxation; sooner it can never be done, without admitting the legality of the claim.

But if the destruction of the tea at Boston, the return of it from Philadelphia, and the dismission ¹ [Page 5] of the tea ship and her cargo, and the destruction of Captain Chambers's tea at New York were act [...] not of choice, but necessity▪ the punishment inflicted on the capital of the Massachusetts Bay, for their manly efforts in favour of liberty, is a clear proof, that Americans can expect nothing but thunder from the British senate, till they explicitly acknow­ledge the constitutional right of that august body to tax them; or teach the mother country▪ by a a virtuous retention of the profits of commerce from her, that any attempt to enslave us would be as fruitless as it would be impolitic. The agita­tion in the cabinet, on receiving the account of the tragi-comedy at Boston, is easy to be conceived. While the minister enjoyed a large share of influ­ence, in the senate of one of the most powerful people under the sun, he found himself bravely opposed, by the virtuous compatriots in America. He flattered himself, nevertheless, on recollection, that terror would, on this side of the water, pro­duce that abject servility and compliance, which in some states, is unhappily effected by corruption. In this view, at a late period in the present session, he procured an act of Parliament to be passed, 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 harbour of Boston, in the province of Massachusetts Bay, in North America." [...]

An account of the progress of this memorable act thro' the House of Commons, we have from an in­telligent friend to America, in a letter▪ dated the 7th April last, which has been published with a copy of the edict now under consideration.— "About a sortnight ago," says the gentleman, "an act of Par­liament of a most extraordinary kind, to [...]hut up the port of Boston, was passed in a most extraordinary manner, being smuggled thro' the House in 17 days only, from its introduction. The evidence before the Privy Council was suppressed, the agents refu [...]ed a hea [...]ing at the bar; and no member for Boston or America, in either House. Nor had he merchants or manufacturers in England, who will be deeply affected by the execution of this [...], any proper no [...]ce of it, or opportunity to [...] against it." The letter writer then point out [...] means (which I would not choose to repeat) by which this extraordinary act was hurried thro', before there could be time for opposition; so that, says he, "when a body of merchants trading to Boston, and Ameri [...]a, waited on Lord North, with a re­quest that a petition might be heard against the bil [...], before it passed into a law, they had the mor­tification to find they were too late, and that the bill had already passed." The preamble of the act^* recites, That dangerous commotions and insurrec­tions had been fomented and raised within the town of Boston, by divers ill-affected persons, to the sub­version of his Majesty's government, and to the ut­ter destruction of the public peace and good order of the said town, in which commotions and insurrecti­ons certain valuable cargoes of teas, the property of the East India company, on ship board, were seized and destroyed, and that in the present condition of the town and harbour, the commerce of his Majesty's subjects cannot be safely carried on there, nor the customs payable to his Majesty, duly col­lected. A most horrible picture of lawless anarchy, and wild confusion this! in which the masterly hands of Governor Hutchinson and the commis­sioners, mark every figure. A person ignorant of the talents of those base informers, would naturally imagine the town of Boston to be in a state of open rebellion; and yet it is a truth, that there is not a more decent and orderly set of people in the Bri­tish empire. It is reasonable to expect that all the inducements for passing this uncommonly severe edict, are particularly [...] in its preamble. It is therefore to be presumed, as the fact really is, that those commotions and insurrections consisted solely in the destruction of the tea. Nor is it un­natural to enquire how by the demolition o [...] privat [...] property, of one particular species, for a reason peculiar to the state of that property, and the consequent loss of cert [...] duties, unconstitution­ally imposed on it, his Majesty's government can be subverted, and the public peace and good order of the town be utterly destroyed. While, in every other instance, the laws are obeyed, justice administered, and public peace and order maintained? Or by what kind of legal argumen­tation can private trespasses be fairly confirmed into open acts of rebellion, and punished with penalties, to a free and generous mind, to an Englishman, more terrible than death itself? Shou [...]d the mini­stry, even under colour of a loan or [...], [Page 6] without the concu [...]rence of Parliament, attempt to levy a tax on his Majesty's subjects in the capital of the British empire, would resistance against such an attempt be deemed a subversion of government, or the destruction of the public peace, and good order? And would even a devoted Parliament, in that case, interdict the commerce of London, till his Majesty in Privy Council▪ should condescend in some measure to open the aven [...]es of trade? Would it be constitutionally right, on the contrary would it not be flagrantly unjust, to bankrupt the merchants and mechanicks, and starve the poor of that opulent emporeum, because its inhabitants would not submit to taxations unwarranted by, and flatly opposed to, the law, and the constitution▪ And yet such, in my humble opinion is precisely the punishment inflicted on Boston, for an offence exactly similar. For it is evident to a demonstra­tion, that the duty on t [...]a is as inconsistent with the antient common [...]aw of the land, as any duty would be, imposed on the city of London, by the royal proclamation, or by order of the King, and a select convention of his own nomination.

It wants the most essential ingredient, the actual representation of the people taxed, or, in other words, the reality of a free gift by them, to make it a legal impost. Our constitution abhors every other tax; witness the statute De Tallagi [...] non concedendo, and the many other statutes against [...]xtorted bene­volences and levies of money that are not the free gift of the people. All those statutes are declara­tive of the [...] and truly venerable august com­mon law of England; to the penalties of which, [...]th many others of new invention, Americans are held subject; while its [...] much their birth-right as that of their fellow subjects, are, it seems, denied them. Modern politicians have forgot, or choose to consider as obsolete, the tenderness of the English law with respect to Ireland, though a con­quered country; and which, therefore, with strong­er reason, applies to the ca [...]se of America. In Calvin's case of Co. Rep. in the arbitrary reign of James I, it [...] asserted that Ireland is a dominion separate and divided from England, and therefore cannot be dependent thereon. For proof of the assertion, the year books 20. H 6.8.—32. H. 6.25.—Dier 360.—plowd. Com. 360, are there cited. And therefore, in some of those books, it is assert­ed ‘That if a tenth, or a fifteenth (the antient mode of taxation in England) be granted here, this shall not bind Ireland.’ In the 2. Ric. 3d, a most cruel arbitrary usurper, a case of the mer­chants of Waterford, in Ireland, upon the English staple statute of Henry VI, passed in judgment. In this case it was solemnly determined by all the judges [...] England, assembled in the Exchequer Chamber, ‘That Ireland has a Parliament of its own, which makes and alters laws, and is not bound by the statutes of England; because the people of that country have not Knights in Parliament here, but their persons are subjects of the King, as were the inhabitants of Calais▪ Gascony, and Guienne’ (territories belonging to the King of England, and yet feudatory to the Crown of France.) In confor­mity to this doctrine, Lord Coke. 4. Inst. p. 35 [...], asserts an antient practice of the Kings of England to call his Nobles of Ireland to the English Parli [...] ­ment, and assigns the following instanc [...] from the Parliament rolls, viz. ‘On the tenth of October, 8. Edw. II, the King greatly desiring the pacific state of the land of Ireland, commanded Richard de Burg, Earl of Ulster, and other Nobles of the land aforesaid,’ to be at the Parliament, which he had caused to be summoned to meet at West­minster, at the Octaves of St. [...]illary next, to treat ‘there with the Nobles of his kingdom concerning the state of that land.’ Upon this passage of law history, which speaks a language vastly disso­nant from that in which our frequent petitions for redress of grievances have been rejected, the great oracle of the law observes that it is an excellent ex­ample to be followed whensoever any act of Parlia­ment shall be made in England concerning Ireland. An example which, as appears from the same book, [...]. III in which nine [...] with the laws of [...] that no act of Parliament can be constitutional that affects a dominion distant from Great Britain, tho' dependent on its Crown; if Americans are entitled to the benefit of the English common law, and if by that law every tax must be freely given by the people on whom it is imposed, how can Americans be constitutional [...]y taxed by others? In vain do our modern politicians assert that the powers of taxation ^* [Page 7] and the powers of legislation are inseparable. For if the authorities I have adduced are of any weight, it would seem that neither of those powers can in strict law be exercised over any people who are not actually represented. Besides, the assertion is a plain petetio principii. It takes for granted the very point in dispute, as far as concerns America. In Britain the same identical people are the subjects both of legislation and taxation, and are actually represented in the exercise of both powers. In that country, this circumstance renders the two powers inseparable; but will it follow that they are so considered in the abstract▪ and under all circum­stances? Does not the assertion prove too much for our adversaries? If the above authorities are law, it excludes Great Britain both from le­gislative and taxative authority over America, and works the very mischief whi [...]h our ene­mies, with unspiring calumny, charge upon us. The truth is▪ that by the antient consti­tution of England, the assent of the subject was ne­cessary, in the formation of every law, whether for the police, the distribution of justice, or the sup­port of government. Since the annexation of Ire­land and the colonies to the imperial crown of the realm, a new combination of circumstances hath arisen, which makes a relaxation of the rigid rule of law absolutely necessary, yet as little as may be, and with a due attention to the antient rights of Englishmen. The empire is no longer one integral, but consists of many distinct parts, having their re­spective different, and sometimes jarring, interests. Hence arises the necessity of binding the empire to­gether by one superintending great council. But the authority of this council over all the parts of the empire, aggregately considered, can only be exer­cised in cases of extreme necessity, and to prevent a disunion in the regulation of our clashing inte­rests in commerce, * and in controlling the intro­duction of contrariety in our general system or law; it is only necessary, and can therefore be constituti­onally exercised only in those cases. To this every wise American will most cheerfully submit Every further, and of course unnecessary extent of it, I hope as it is our duty, it will ever be our principle, by all just and prudent measures to oppose.

The act in question▪ after reciting the impossibi­lity of carrying on commerce safely, and collecting his Majesty's duties at Boston, absolutely shuts up the port against all imports but the necessaries of life and the Kings stores, and against all exports whatsoever; transfers the seat of commerce and the customs, to Salem, an inferior town of the colony; and inforces its own execution, with the most severe penalties and forfeitures. Nay to cut off their most distant prospect, of any commercial intercourse with the rest of the world, it is rendered highly penal, for any ships to be found at anchor in, or hovering within a league of Boston bay. And any of the King's sea officers, and those of his customs, are entrusted with the most extraordinary power of compelling such ships, even by force, to such stations as the officer shall assign; and a six hours delay in complying with the arbitrary mandate of the petty tyrant, subjects to a forfeiture of vessel and cargo. There is indeed, in a proviso, the seeming traces of sympathy, which are totally obliterated in an instant, for while it admits their fellow subjects to supply them coastwise with fuel and victual [...], merely for the necessary use of the inhabitants of that unhappy town, it clogs the manner of supply with such expences, delays, and difficulties, as were it the act of enemies, would indicate a reso­lution to starve the Bostonians into a compliance. It requires every vessel thus employed, to repair first to Marblehead, and there to be furnished with a cocket and a let-pass, a [...]ter search by the custom house officers, who of course must be the absolute judges of what is necessary for the use and sustenance of his Majesty's subjects of Boston. But this is not all, she must proceed to that town under the com­mand and control of one of those locusts, attended with his life guard. Nay what was perhaps never heard of before in any country, from which justice was not totally banished, those very locusts are in the act, supposed to be the adversaries of the delin­quents, as they were doubtless some of their accu­sers. For by another clause in the act, his Majesty is inhibited from opening the port, until it shall be certified to him in Council, by the Governor or the Lieutenant Governor of the province, that the in­habitants of the town, have among other reparati­ons made reasonable satisfaction to the officers of his Majesty's revenue, who suffered by the rio [...] [...]nd insurrections aforesaid. Was there ever an instance like this, [...] the annals of English history? The The custom house officer empowered to starve the free born subjects of Britain, into a recompence for supposed injuries done to himself! Is this consistent with a known maxim in law, no man shall be a judge in his own cause?^a Besides this, a dependant Governor, armed with ministerial vengeance, is to measure out the quantum of that recompense; and the King in Privy Council, at last is made the abso­lute disposer of the fortunes of his subjects! How does this act speak the language of magna charta, [Page 8] that boasted palladium of English liberty?^b ‘We will deny justice to no man, nor will we proceed against him but by the lawful judgment of his peers, or the law of the land.’ The very same proviso, with the like undistinguishing spirit with which the first enacting clause was dictated, ex­cludes all his Majesty's confessedly unoffending subjects from the trade of Boston, subjects their ships and vessels, lying at anchor in the port, as well as those hovering or riding at anchor, in or within a mile of the bay, to the same hardships with the inhabitants of the t [...]wn, in the articles of fuel and sustenance, and allows the former only fourteen days for their departure, with­out the least saving to either, in case of want of repairs, desertion of seamen, or other unavoidable casualties. An omission, which at least evinces the precipitation with which the act was passed. The ministry indeed seem to have been so who [...]ly intent on a complete blockade of the town of Boston, that after the important period of the first of June, the unfinished voyage of every trading ship▪ belonging to any part of his Majesty's realm or dominions, must become a dead loss to the honest adventurer. In other words not only the inhabitants of the town of Boston must be ruined, but every other subject who lawfully rep [...]ired thither for traffic, before that day, and whose business unhappily detained him there till its expiration, must be involved in the calamity. They never probably had the leaft eye to the means of redress in such instances, as well as in those numerous others, in which this fa­tal embargo may compel the Bostonians thro' ina­bility, or induce them in just retaliation, to stop payment of the large sums which they owe to the merchants in Great Britain. But certainly they did not extend their views to the other offending colonies, who may soon expect to feel as great a weight of their resentment as Boston sustains, no [...] to [...]ll the colonies in general, who either by com­pu [...]ion or voluntary engagement in the common cause, will without all peradventure, from the same motives, either be compelled or induced to put an absolute stop to the commercial intercourse▪ be­tween them and Great Britain. In this state of things, should they see the trade of the mother country laid prostrate, her merchants and manu­facturers made bankrupts, and their now oppressed poor, starving for want of employ; should they hear the voice of the whole nation raised against them as the voice of one man, and devoting them to i [...] ­evitable destruction, they will then see, in reality, what my Lord Camden told them, "that the bos­ton bill will be productive of a train of evils, and that they will certainly have cause to repent it." — The seizures are directed by the act to be made by the usual sea officers, and those of his Majesty's customs; by implication to be prosecuted for in the unconstitutional admiralty courts, and condemned on the evidence of interested witnesses, privately examined, according to the usage of those courts, and without that security which a trial by jury gives the subject; and the very custom house offi­cers, who by the act are supposed to have been in­jured by the Bostonians, are entitled to be partakers of the spoil. How wantonly will seizures, under such circumstances, be made, when those hirelings of administration, already exasperated by supposed insults from the inhabitants, and prompted by a prospect both of gain and revenge, see very little danger of miscarriage from an unequal bench, and while the terror of treble costs is held up against the victims of their resentment and avarice! But mark the conclusion of this singular and unparalleled prohibition. By another clause it makes "void every charter party, bill of lading, and other contract relating to voyages to and from Boston, which have been entered into, and that shall be entered into, as long as the act remains in force. It is easy to conceive that many hundreds of voyages may thus be con­certed in the various parts of his majesty's domini­ons, without the possibility of knowing the existence of the act. In consequence of this clause, there­fore, how numerous and inevitable will the disso­lutions of such contracts be, and how ruinous to the honest unoffending sufferers? Should not the incensed ministry, in the height of their rage against the Bostonians, have provided against the mani­festly numerous evils, re [...]u [...]ing [...] the mother country, and the other colonies, as well as foreign­ers, which this act carries in its train? But beyond all this, the act in question is evidently [...] ex post facto law, it respects all unexecuted contracts, made before the time in which it was past, as is evident from the words▪ made or entered into, or which shall be made or entered into. By which means the King's subjects, as well as foreigners, will be punished for the breach of an act, committed before the act for forbidding it existed.

These, my friends, are some of the evils under which our unhappy fellow subjects in the Massachu­setts Bay now labour; evils which, as a similar cause usually in politics as in nature▪ produces simi­lar effects, you must expect soon to sustain with the [Page 9] Pennsylvanians in your turn. You are, doubtless, with a sympathetic anxiety, desirous to know when, and by what means the suffering Bostonians are to be eased of their present burthen▪ I answer (if we may judge from the act) never, till they submit to a worse, I mean an abject compliance with the mea­sures of an arbitrary Ministry; and of what nature this compliance must be, the act plainly points out. It declares, that "whenever it shall be made ap­pear to his Majesty, in Privy Council, that peace and obedience to the laws shall be so far restored in the said town of Boston, that the trade of Great-Britain may safely be carried on there, and his Ma­jesty's customs duly collected, and his Majesty in Council shall adjudge the same to be true, his Ma­jesty shall and may set limits to the port of Boston, and assign, within the same, so many open places, quays, and wharfs, for the landing and lading goods as he shall think proper," with severe penal­ties for landing and lading goods at any other places. But the act expressly inhibits his Majesty from thus far opening the port "until it shall sufficiently ap­pear to him that full satisfaction hath been made by or on behalf of the inhabitants of the said town of Boston" to the East-India Company "for the de­struction of their goods;" and until it shall be cer­tified to his Majesty, in Council, by the Governor or Lieutenant Governor of said province, that reasonable satisfaction hath been made to the offi­cers of his Majesty's revenue, and others who suffer­ed by the riots and insurrections above mentioned▪ in the months of November and December 1773, and the month of January 1774. Before the passing of this act, the inhabitants of the town of Boston, by title derived under the charter of the colony, were in the full possession and enjoyment of their right to the whole bay and harbour of Boston, and the lands adjoining and contiguous thereto, to be used by them as their own property, in such a manner as the law of the land, before the passing of this act, permitted. In that state of things they were not limited to any wharfs or quays for landing and ship­ping their goods; but such places were used for that purpose, as superior conveniency pointed out. By this means many of the inhabitants of the town were induced, at a great expence, to make proper improvements for the accommodation of trade, in which probably the estates of many now chiefly con­si [...]t. To these the intended blockade of the port must be greatly injurious, and their property put in the mercy and discretion of the Crown in perpetui [...]y; and the act being perpetual, unless his Majesty shall think proper to exercise his known grace and cle­mency in fully opening the port, as it now is, many of [...]s good subjects will probably be ruined. With respect to such persons, therefore, the punishment infl [...]cted on them▪ in a degree, a forfeiture of their estates, the restoration of which will depend on the good pleasure of the Crown: a severe punishment; which, considering how indiscriminately it is in­flicted▪ may fall principally on the innocent— [...]gain, it is evident from the act, that in the sense of Par­liament, the interruption of the trade of Great-Britain to Boston, and of the receipt of his Majesty's customs in that port▪ refers to no other matters than the destruction of the East-India Company's tea, and the loss of those duties▪ to the Crown, with which it was charged. It therefore follows, that in the intention of Parliament, the port is to continue shut until the inhabitants fully and explicitly submit to the importation of dutied tea, and other imposts from time to time, thus circumstanced or in other words, recognise the right of the British Parliament to tax them. Should this expedient succeed, it is evident that the submission required, w [...]ll not be confined to Boston only, New York and Pennsyl­vania have already done acts which must of course draw from the British Parliament an equal degree of resentment. [...]. Should the other colonies decline so explicit an opposition to the principle of parlia­mentary taxations on the colonies, they must of course submit to the exercise of that authority; since, whatever may be urged concerning the possi­bility of evading those laws, by a virtuous resoluti­on, against consuming the commodity thus charged, the articles may be so varied and increased in their number, as to drive them at length to the necessity of opposing their importation, or quietly submitting to parliamentary taxations. It is, however, evident, that the Ministry are bent on the establ [...]shment of an uncontrolable authority in Parliament over the property of Americans; and should our virtue rise to such a pitch of self-denial as totally to banish the consumption of all articles usually imported from Europe, a poll, or a land tax, or a tax upon our personal property, or our callings and occupations, will, if they po [...]ess a discretionary power of taxing us, effectually reach [...] ▪ But the act not only respects the future conduct [...] of the Americans; it expressly retrospects to the past transactions of the Bostonians, and by a parity of reason will be the rule of parliamentary conduct towards New-York and Pennsylvania. It exacts, in order to the opening of the port of Boston, in the qualified manner▪ I have already pointed out, that it shall sufficiently appear to his Majesty, that full satisfaction has been made to the East-India Company for the loss of their tea; and that it shall be certified to his Majesty in Privy Co [...]cil, by the Governor, that reasonable satisfaction has been made [Page 10] to the custom-house officers, and others who have suffered by the transactions of 1773 and 1774. It having been clearly shewn that the peace and good order of the town of Boston were, in the estimation of the Parliament, broke by the destruction of the East-India Company's tea, it follows, as I have be­fore hinted, that such peace and good order cannot be restored till tea, and other dutied articles, are suffered to be imported, and the duties thereon paid, without interruption or opposition. And it being evid [...]t that the port of Boston cannot be opened till it is made appear to his Majesty that the trade of Great-Britain may be safely carried on the [...] ▪ and his Majesty's customs d [...]ly co [...]lected▪ it follows, that his Majesty can never be [...]urnished with that evidence, which, consistent wi [...]h the term [...] of the act, will en­able him to exercise his benevolence to the Bostoni­ans,—such evidence being impossible but in a course of trade, which can never be had while the port is shut up against every thing but necessary fuel and victual.

But even should his Majesty be supposed to have a discretionary power, independent of any instance in a course of trade, to judge that peace and good order, and an obedience to the laws, are so far restored as that the trade of Great-Britain may safely be carried on there, and his Majesty's customs be duly co [...]lected; yet, does not the act of Parlia­ment totally subject the liberty of trade, and in that case, and its consequences, the property of all his Majesty's subjects entirely to his mercy and discreti­on? And does not this so far forth amount to an actual forfeiture, declared by act of Parliament? If such punishment was really due to the Bostonians indiscriminately, for the destruction of private pro­perty, & the consequential loss of certain duties to his Majesty, in one instance, why was is not declared, by authority of Parliament, in so many words, that their liberty of trade, and their property, were and should be forfeited into the hands of the Crown? Had it been so declared (though the Bostonians might then, as they now may, resort to the grace of their sovereign) yet every freeman on this con­tinent would, in that case, doubtless, have taken the alarm, and been fired with indignation. The virtue, the honour, and the clemency of our present most gracious sovereign, are indeed greatly to be con­fided in; but none who have a proper sense of liberty would think of parting with that security which the law and the constitution give them, in exchange for the grace and favour of the Crown.

But what is still more astonishing, while the act thus far divested the Bostonians of their rights, it is not left even in the power of the crown to restore them at discretion▪ Before his Majesty can exercise his grace on the subject, the Governor's certificate of recompense must be obtained. He must certify, that reasonable satisfaction has been made to the officers of h [...]s Majesty's custom [...] and others ▪ or his Majesty cannot open the port This check▪ were not his Majesty's public and private character well known▪ might be mistaken [...] ar [...]e a d [...]fidence which would do him as much injustice as dishonour: and what mo [...]i [...]e could induce the inte [...]tion of this check in the act, is difficult to concei [...]e.

But to what a hopeless state is liberty and proper­ty reduced, when in re [...]pect to thousands of the King's subjects, those valuable enjoyments are put into the power of one of their fe [...]l [...]w subj [...]cts? In the power of a gentleman [...]ent from abroad, and who without impeachment of his wisdom, or his [...]odness of heart, must naturally be in [...]luenced by the prejudices of ad [...]inistration. He is not only to assess, without the assurance of a jury, the damage which each sufferer has sustained, he is also to ascertain their persons and their number. Beside the custom house officers, the act speaks of other sufferers▪ without identifying them▪ either by names or offices. Who they are, must therefore be left to the Governor's discretion. The mode of pro­ceeding, to ascertain the sufferers and their losses, i [...] left intirely to him. He may form his judgment it he pleases, upon the oaths of the complainants, or of other interested or ex parte witnesses, and with­out giving an hearing to the town of Boston, or any of its inhabitants. By virtue of the word others, he may grant to his Majesty consequential damages, for the destruction of the tea in respect of the du­ties that would have been paid had it been landed, to the confignatories an equivalent for the commis­sions they would have earned on the sale of the tea, to the owners of the tea ships a demurrage, to all others who may be otherwise affected by the non completion of their voyages, to a recompence, and to his Majesty a reimbursement of the extraordinary expences of equipping a military force, and sending it to Boston to enforce the execution of the act in question. Such a depositum of power in one per­son, so absolute in its nature, and so capable of mistake or abuse in its application, was never before made in any country where the name of liberty was was ever heard. But to all this the Bostonians, and most probably New-York and Philadelphia, must submit; or trade, and with it property, must for ever be banished from their shores. Moreover how essentially must the merchant and manufac­turer of Great Britain feel the effects of this act?— If our sea port towns are to be ruined, what be­comes of our creditors on the other side of the water? They must infallibly lose the immense sum [...] [Page 11] we owe them. If our ports are to be shut, the trade of the mother country must sink, and beggary and distress overspread the land.

Thus then it appears, how severe and indiscri­minate the punishment, [...]how uncertain the re­lief is, which the act provides; and how highly improbable it is, that a restitution to the Bostonians of their former enjoyments will ever be total, even if they should formally and [...]p [...]icitly recognize the authority of Parliament to [...]ax America.

It behoves us therefore, in behalf of ourselves and our posterity, to look to another quarter for that perfect security to which Englishmen are enti­tled. We have resources to which we may fly without the risk of being charged, in the worst of times, with constructive treason or rebellion; resources that have already been tried with success, and if employed again with due perseverance, must prove effectual.

We have an extensive and fertile country, so far cultivated and not overstocked with inhabitants, as abundantly to yield us all the necessaries, and most of the comforts of life. Not such is the condition of our fellow subjects in Britain. That country is over stocked. And notwithstanding their extensive commerce and numerous manufactories, thousands of its inhabitants are scarcely above perishing thro' want. The colonies annually consume near a third part of their manufactures; and of their imports to a very great amount. A total stop to such consumption must in a few months fill that island with bankrupts and beggars, and cover its face with the utmost distress and desolation. On our parts the commodities already imported among us, those which we may manufacture ourselves, and the con­venience which our extensive coast and numerous inlets afford us, for risking the importation of com­modities from foreign countries, together with the cheapness of provisions, will enable us to bear for a long time, a total suspension of commerce with Great Britain. This expedient will divert the storm from our land, and repel it to the quarter from whence it aro [...]e. There, distress will sharpen re­sentment, [...] the mouths of all ranks with the loudest clamours against taxing America. Necessity from every quarter will press with its usual irresista­ble force; the controversy will no longer be with America; but between the ministry and the King's subjects in Great Britain, headed by the respectable and truly virtuous party in the opposition. The contest will be so unequal, that the ministry must soon give way; and a total repeal of the revenue act must take place before the end of the next ses­sion of Parliament. By these means the mother country will be brought back to the constitutional and just standard of her supremacy, consisting in her power to regulate the trade of the empire, in all its various discordant parts, and superintend the whole political fabrick; to prevent those changes which may work a disunion, and of course a disso­lution of the grand machine. In this seat of supre­macy, every wise, every virtuous American wishes to see her so securely placed, that she may consti­tutionally sway her sceptre over her American children to the end of the world.

It is true that those means which are necessary for our relief, will be peculiarly mischievous to our brethren in Great Britain. But the mischief will not lie at our doors. We shall doubtless heartily lament their distresses; but it is not our duty to prevent them by resigning our liberties. They have it in their power to command redress. Let them in one body apply to the crown, not thro' a minister, but in person, and with respectful decency. Let them assault the royal and clement ear, with their cries and complaints —He will doubtless interpose for their and our relief; let the whole body of British electors instruct their representatives, against the evils under which the whole empire groans; let them behold and lament the dreadful consequen­ces of bribery, and let them resolve for the future, to be incorruptably virtuous.

Arts, my dear friends, the most malignant and poisonous to your liberties will doubtless be prac­tised by dirty hirelings and base dependants on this side of the water, to divert you from the glorious resolution, I have mentioned. To the soft persua­sions of such, turn a deaf ear, charm they ever so sweetly. If you do not, they will allure you, and thro' your ears (can you bear the piercing thought?) your dear, your unoffending posterity, in all ages to come, into the most abject and disgraceful slavery.

Why would you be persuaded to leave a duty to be performed by your descendants, which you owe to yourselves, to them, to the world? Why re­fuse to extend the sacred barrier of virtuous liberty, that the nations of the earth may admire it, and admiring catch the noble ardor of freemen? Why leave to your children to do what you can better atchieve for yourselves and for them? You are all anxious to make by the sweat of your brows, com­fortable inheritances for them; but can you leave them a better, a more inestimable inheritance on this side of eternity, than that liberty to which the all wise, the all bountiful author of universal nature has entitled them, by making them rational creatures? Consider then if you devolve the ar­duous task on them, you discourage them by your example. You establish against them a powerful [Page 12] precedent, by your abject cession of your liberty. Born in less happy times, totally ignorant of the experimental sweets of virtuous freedom, they will not be so strongly impressed by those powerful mo­tives to purchase it, as you are to secure it. You know its true value; they will be ignorant of it. Besides, freemen are naturally active, slaves as na­turally inactive. In this view, those who are to fill your places, will not enjoy that vigour which you possess, to shake off the chains of slavery.

Consider again, that as far as the n [...]cessity of a commercial intercourse with Great Britain can be urged to deter you, it will plead as forcibly with your successors. This country is too extensive ever to have a redundancy of inhabitants. And it is such redundancy alone, that can in any country give a successful spring to arts and manufactories. [...]ill up any parts of it to which your fancy can di­rect you; their overflowing [...] wi [...]l not be employed in arts and manufactures, while other parts are va­cant and prepared for receiving inhabitants The example of our sister colonies in New England is a striking proof of the truth of this observation. Crowded for want of room, their inhabitants are [...]aily colonizing other tracts of the country.

Should you be flattered that the superior number of your future inhabitants, will enable you to meet your fellow subjects in the field of battle; can you be persuaded to [...] the cause of liberty on so dan­gerous an issue? Why leave it to your sons to employ hostil [...] force, to risk the dissolution of the British empire, and to introduce among you an in­ternal competition for superiority, and perhaps slavery in the [...], when a virtuous self denial at present, will in a short time place your liberties upon a basis on which they should always stand, and under the protection of a due supremacy in the mother country?

Moreover you should do every thing in your power to encourage your brethren in New England. The Bostonians are already, by being foremost in the struggle, secluded from all commerce; the others stand ready to shut up their ports, and with impatient eyes they all look to the westward for proper countenance and support. The cause is a common cause; why should we not be seen active in it? Can you expect that they alone should do the whole work? Why will you put even their singular virtue to an unnecessary trial? I am con­fident you will not, and I flatter myself that our brethren in the other counties will cheerfully co-operate, with you.

You, my fellow citizens, are inhabitants of the metropolis of this colony; you have appointed a committee of fifty one persons, with an indetermi­nate power to correspond with the neighbouring colonies: As far as you have enabled them, and prudence would permit, they have executed their trust—They have, among other things, informed our brethren the Bostonians, that the late alarming measures, relative to that antient and respectable town, which has so long been the seat of freedom, fill our inhabitants with inexpressible concern—That they consider their cause as the common cause; and that to the redress of their injuries it is equally our duty and our interest to contribute; that we think them justly entitled to the thanks of their sister colonies, for asking their advice, in a case of such extensive consequence; that as the cause is general, and concerns the whole continent, they conclude that a congress of deputies, from the colonies in general, is of the [...]tmost moment; that it ought to be assem­bled without delay, and some unanimous resolutions formed, in this fatal emergency, not only respect­ing the deplorable circumstances of Boston, but for the security of our common rights;—they entreat our friends of that town to believe that we shall con­tinue to act with firm and becoming regard to American freedom, and to co-operate with our sis­ter colonies, in every measure which shall be thought salutary and conducive to the public good, and conclude with an assurance that we sincerely condole with them in their unexampled distress, and with a request of their speedy opinion of the proposed congress, that if it should meet with their approbation, we may exert our utmost endeavours to carry it into execution. The committee, while their duty remained undefined, could not possibly go farther. It would be leaving too great a hard­ship on them, to exact their continuance of so ne­cessary a correspondence, without a public and ex­press declaration of our sentiments, on a subject of such infinite importance. This will serve not only as a guide to our committee, who seem fully dis­posed to speak the language of the inhabitants, but will afford our sister colonies the most conclusive evidence of our ardour and sincerity in the common cause. In this [...], I would [...] humbly to propose to the consideration of you, my fellow citizens, a set of resolves, calculated. I hope, to answer the important purpose, and cheerfully sub­mit them for your correction or rejection. But it is my most earnest request, that as you value your liberty, which is the highest blessing on this side the grave, as you are anxious to transmit that bles­sing to latest posterity▪ as you feel for the pungent distresses of the much injured Bostonians, who are called to suffer in the common cause, trials hitherto unheard of in a free state; you may at some public meeting, to be convened without delay, publish to [Page 13] the world, your unanimous sentiments, on the momentous occasion, in such a set of resolves, as your zeal, tempered with prudence, will naturally dictate. Nor do I doubt that you, our brethren in the other counties, to whom as well as to my fellow citizens, I earnestly and with great deference re­commend the measure, will speedily follow their bright example.

[...] before I lay before you the resolves I propose [...] [...] be proper to urge [...] as a consideration, to [...]hew the propriety of subjecting our exports to some pro­per restraints. With respect to those to Great-Britain, besides the remittance of money, they usu­ally consist in lumber, iron, wheat, flower, pot and pearl ashes▪ and other articles, which are absolutely necessary to her. The article of tobacco, particu­larly a staple of Virginia and Maryland, affords not only a very considerable revenue to the Crown, but yields great profits to the British merchants in their trade with foreign nations. Our West-India colo­nies are wholly indebted to [...] this continent for the materials for transporting their rum and sugars to the different parts of the British empire. On those articles depend no inconsiderable part of the trade and revenue of the mother country, as well as the whole wealth of our brethern the West-Indians. It is well known that they have near eighty members in Parliament, who, as long experience demonstrates, are unanimously in the Interest of the Ministry. While, therefore, unhappy necessity obliges us to distress our mother country by discon­tinuing both our exports and imports in relation to her, the same necessity requires us to suspend our supply of staves, hoops, and heading, and all kinds of lumber, without which the manufacturers of sugar and rum must stop, and the whole weight of the West-India interest in the House of Commons by that means be forced into the scale on the side of America, making at the same time a proper al­lowance for the shipping of such quantities of those articles only as will enable us to support our com­merce with the foreign islands. Should it be ob­jected that such an extensive suspension of our com­merce will excite Parliament to deprive us of our foreign trade, or shut up our port: To this it may be answered, that before such a measure can possi­bly take place, the necessities of the mother country will compel our relief. Besides, for the reasons al­ready assigned, the interdiction of that commerce will effectually debar us of the profits we derive in a course of trade with France, Spain, Portugal, and the ports of the Mediterranean in general; all which ultimately center in our mother country. And as this will increase her distresses, by the una­voidable impossibility which it will occasion, of pay­ing the immense load of our British debt already contracted, there is no rea [...]on to fear she will de­prive us of our foreign trade, or shut up our port. The proposed resolves are as follows:

1st. That it is the clear and unquestionable right of his Majesty's subjects in these colonies to be ex­empt from all taxes but those imposed on them re­spectively, in their respective legislatures, with the consent of their own representatives.

2dly. That therefore all taxes and duties imposed on the persons, estates, trade, or occupations of his Majesty's subjects in the colonies, by authority of Parliament, and for the purpose of raising a revenue, are totally unconstitutional, and a manifest infringement of the most essential rights of British subjects.

3dly. That therefore the act of Parliament com­monly called the revenue act, and all other acts of Parliament now in being, whereby the trade of the colonies is subjected to duties for the purpose afore­said, are altogether unconstitutional, and in them­selves absolutely null and void.

4thly. That the exercise of authority by the British Parliament, in imposing taxes and duties on the colonies, for the purpose aforesaid, will render their representations in Assembly useless and unne­cessary in that most essential department.

5thly. That the act of Parliament lately passed for shutting up the port of Boston, or any other means or device under colour or pretext of law, to compel them, or any other of his Majesty's Ameri­can subjects, to submit to parliamentary taxations, are subversive of their just and constitutional liberty.

6thly. Resolved, that we do fully approve of the measures hitherto pursued by our brethren the Bos­tonians, for relieving themselves from the aforesaid burthens, and that they are now suffering in the common cause of British America.

7thly. That therefore it is the indispensible duty of every colony on this continent to unite, and ef­fectually exert themselves for the repeal of the said act for shutting up the port of Boston, and every other act of Parliament whereby they are taxed for raising a revenue.

8thly. That it is the opinion of this city, that a joint resolution of the principal colonies on thi [...] con­tinent, totally to cease from all exports to, and im­ports from Great Britain, and all supplies of lumber to the sugar colonies in America, with an exception only of such as will be necessary to bring home the returns of North American cargoes, from the fo­reign sugar colonies, will be the only effectual means to secure a repeal of all the said acts of Par­liament.

[Page 14]9thly. That therefore the inhabitants of this city, hereby declare to the world, their readiness cheer­fully to enter into a general association for that purpose.

10thly. That to this end a general congress of deputies be convened, from the colonies on this continent, without delay, to resolve on the most effectual means for defending their common rights and liberties, at this most critical and alarming cri­sis.

And lastly, that the committee of correspondence for this city, do immediately communicate these resolves to our brethren in the other colonies, and do their utmost endeavours to accelerate the meet­ing of such congress.

May the infinitely wise and beneficent sovereign of the universe, in this most critical conjuncture, be the gracious director of all our counsels, and the unerring conductor of all our ways.—May [...]e plenteously transfuse a spirit of wisdom, fortitude, and unanimity throughout this wide extended con­tinent—May his good providence ever be the guar­dian of our public liberties, and restore union to all parts of the British empire. May our most gracious sovereign long, happily, and gloriously reign over the mother country and her numerous colonies, and may their united scep [...]re be [...] by a Prince of the illustrious house of Hanove [...] [...] long as sun, and moon, and earth, and star [...] [...] endure.

These are the sincere, the fervent, the incessant prayers of

There is reason to believe, that resolutions similar to the above, or of a like tendency, have already, or will soon be passed by the general body of the people in every British colony in America: For copies of the resolves of many towns in New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, the General Assemblies of Connecticut and Virginia, and of several towns and counties in Maryland, have been published; and measures to the same end, are taking in Pennsylvania and New Iersey.

Iune 11th, 1774.