THAT the Author of this little Performance was born in Virginia, I shall not question, since he has been pleased to tell us the Fact was really so. It seems equally immaterial whe­ther the Principles, in which he was nurtured, were of a mixed or simple Nature, as it must be obvious that one Kind of those Principles solely predominates at present and has given his Mind a strange and unaccountable Bias. The perfect Enjoyment of his private Freedom in thinking for himself, and offering his Sentiments to this Country upon every Occasion, I wish not to interrupt; but he must ex­cuse me, if I should differ with him in Opinion, as to his being so devoted a Servant to the Welfare of this Commu­nity, as he professes himself. Whether the Serenity of my Mind or the Soundness of my Understanding will justify me in offering myself a Candidate for a Seat in his exclusive Judicature, I will not determine; all I shall engage for is, that I will not be clamorous. The present distressed Situation of Virginia is what all good Men must heartily lament; but I hope he does not mean to insinuate that we have wantonly drawn any of these Misfortunes on ourselves. He should recollect his Latin Adage, " Jus suum cuique tribuere," that " Foundation of social Duties," to which, without Doubt, he hath religiously conformed in every Instance. Popular Odium, the Weight of which he is so very sensible of, it is [Page 4] far from my Intention to excite against him; but I am more strongly impelled to dispute his great Indifference about an Office, "should he possess one," so very precarious in its Tenure. My sole View is to put my Countrymen a little more on their Guard, and to remove, if I can, those un­favourable Impressions, he has laboured to make on the Minds of others.

If some Men have unwarrantably and unjustly, in the Author's Opinion, assumed to themselves that "most ex­alted and honourable Appellation" of a PATRIOT, perhaps there may be found, in the World, other Characters equally exceptionable. I do not wish to limit his Ardour and the Overflowings of his Zeal for the Good of his Country; but would gladly be informed to what Purpose, on the present Occasion, the Public is entertained with so many trite Ob­servations on the Nature of the British Constitution; I pre­sume to give them this Name, because they have been so repeatedly rung in our Ears, that the merest Sciolist, the veriest Smatterer in Politicks must long since have had them all by Rote. It is devoutly to be wished that the Constitu­tion of this Country were assimilated in every essential Point to that of Great Britain; I mean so long as this can be maintained upon its just, original Principles. Our Consti­tution, however, such as it is, hath suffered no internal Violation, that I know of. Infringements of this Sort seem peculiar to another Meridian; had they gained Ground amongst us, perhaps we might not have been left entirely without an Apology, considering the Force of Example, and this held out by those, who affect to be so much our Superiors. If the uncontroulable and unlimited Power claimed by PARLIAMENT over the Colonies is disputed on legal and constitutional Principles, this surely is exceedingly wide of what the Author would insinuate. That the Prerogative of the King, "exists here in its fullest Lustre and Vigour," and that it ever ought to do so, is what we chearfully [Page 5] acknowledge and earnestly contend for; but the plain Inference which the Author would have drawn from his Observations, if he intends any Thing material, is that, by disputing the Power of Parliament, we draw into Question the PREROGATIVE of our most gracious Sovereign; than which, nothing can be more contrary to the Sentiments and Wishes of all America.

It seems that every One, who doth not adopt the Author's Principles, is to be considered as a designing Man and must no longer expect to be honoured with any Share of his Con­fidence. Hard and cruel Fate! but we must endeavour to bear up under it, as well as we can.

That the unhappy Dispute, now subsisting between Great Britain and the Colonies, is of a very interesting Nature must be acknowledged by every Well-wisher to either Country. Viewing it in its extensive dangerous Conse­quences, I believe few have been more affected by the gloomy Prospect than myself; it hath even harrowed up my very Soul. The Reflection, that we live in a State of Discord with our Fellow Subjects, whom we formerly con­sidered and still wish to esteem as our dearest Friends; and, above all, the Horrors, which every American must feel from an Apprehension that the Mind of his gracious Sove­reign may have been impressed with Ideas of a Disrepect and Want of Loyalty in his Subjects, must be extremely afflicting. I will venture to express it as my firm and sted­fast Belief that there can be found in no Part of his Majesty's Dominions a warmer and more cordial Attachment to his sacred Person and Government, than prevails throughout the Continent of America; for myself I will speak with still greater Confidence and say that, had I a Window in my Breast, and his Majesty could deign to look into it, he would there see a Heart glowing with the purest Sentiments of Duty and Affection. Oppressed, however, as we are by [Page 6] so weighty a Burthen, we nevertheless ought not, we cannot lose Sight of what is due to our Country, ourselves, and our Posterity.

The Author tells us of his Persuasion that the Dispute may be ‘adjusted without Noise; and the public Tran­quillity again restored, if Gentlemen would pursue those Measures, which are likely to effect what is every Man's Wish to obtain.’ Let him propose those Measures; so far from being noisy, I will become all Attention, and catch, with Avidity, the delightful Accents, as they drop from his mellifluous Tongue. If ‘the Wisdom of his Counsels should be able to effect this desirable End, his Memory shall be gratefully perpetuated in the Hearts of all his Countrymen,’ and, to the whole Continent of America, he shall become the Great Apollo. What he may have, in Reserve to be offered, when he inclines to "descend to Particulars," I will not presume to anticipate. I must for the present, take Leave to examine, a little, those ‘ob­vious Means,’ he has been pleased to recommend.

‘We ought, it is said, in the first Place, to declare, in the most public Manner, that the Act of the Bostonians in destroying the Property of the East India Company was illegal and ought not to be countenanced. This will evince our Uprightness and serve as an Admonition to those headstrong People never to go to the same Lengths again. Then let us petition his Majesty; assure him of our inviolable Attachment to his Person and Government and implore his Royal Interposition in procuring a Re­peal of those Acts, which have excited such an Alarm amongst us; and, when abrogated, will quiet the Minds of his most faithful Subjects in America.’ I never have, nor will I ever attempt to justify the Bostonians or any others in Acts of Violence or Intemperance; nor can I presume to join, in a public Condemnation of them, without being [Page 7] convinced of their Guilt. In short, I cannot form a proper Judgment without being fully possessed of their Cause and a thorough Knowledge of the Motives of their Conduct. Wantonly and unjustly to destroy the Property of another, I hold in utter Abhorrence; but I can easily suppose an Act of Oppression, which will justify a Sufferer in the Execution of every Means necessary for his Security. Whether the Bostonians were reduced to such an Extremity I will not determine. Justifying or condemning them are very dis­tinct Considerations from the Opinion we form of the Proceedings of Parliament. Each of these will be more distinctly and properly remarked upon, when I come to take a View of other Parts of the Work. I should be glad, however, in the mean Time, to know who are particularly meant by the Bostonians. If, when we are invited to a general Proscription of those unhappy People, it is intended that we should condemn them in a Lump, the Innocent with the Guilty, the Author surely must give up every Pretence to those Principles of Justice, he would fain have us believe him so much in Love with. If, on the other Hand, he means that we should condemn the Guilty only, why were they not discriminated? This perhaps would not have laid a proper Groundwork for the Petition recommended, as it would necessarily imply a Censure of Parliament, whose new Mode of Punishment extends, not only to all the In­habitants of the Town of Boston, but [...] involves, either mediately or immediately, most of the Inhabitants of the whole Province; such a Petition, therefore, could hardly be conceived in agreeable LANGUAGE. I wish, upon such Occasions, as this especially, that Gentlemen would avoid connecting the Name of his Majesty with that of any of his Subjects, however dignified or distinguished. We have a Maxim in our Law, which hath long since become pro­verbial, that the KING can do no Wrong. It is not to be supposed that his MAJESTY can HIMSELF attend to and di­rect all the arduous Affairs of his extended Dominions. [Page 8] The Constitution hath therefore assisted him with a Ministry, who become the ostensible Men, and are accountable, for any Wrong or Injury, that may fall on the Subject through their Counsel and Advice. As to petitioning our most gra­cious Sovereign, I should prefer a Step of this Sort, pre­vious to all others. America, I am persuaded, would prostrate herself at the Foot of his Throne and not think of any other Means, till this was tried; I would join in the most respectful Applications to both Houses of Parliament for the Redress of our Grievances; but, alas! of what Avail would these Things be? Have they not been repeatedly attempted without the desired Effect, as well by this, as the other Colonies? I would recommend to the Author's Perusal and most serious Reflection the several disregarded Petitions preferred against the Boston Port Bill, and should be glad to know how it could have happened, that such dutiful and respectful Applications, and such Cogency of Reasoning were withstood and surmounted, if Measures of the same Sort are now likely to succeed.

In Exertion of what the Parliament claims as a Right of Taxation, we are reminded of the Duty imposed upon Stamps and Tea; by which the Author would have his Readers suppose that these two Duties were laid by the same Act of Parliament. This may serve his Purpose, in the Contrast afterwards drawn to prove that the Duty on Tea ought to be considered merely as a Regulation of Trade; but I beg Leave to inform him that this Tea Duty was the Offspring of another Act, which imposed the Duties on Glass, Paper, &c. And that this Act compared with another of the same Session clearly evinces that it was not intended as a commercial Regulation, but originally designed as one Article of the American Revenue, and afterwards retained merely as a Precedent. The Stamp Act he says was re­pealed; very true; and America expressed her Thanks for it, hoping that Concord and Harmony would be restored [Page 9] and firmly established. We are told, in the next Place, that, ‘though the Duty on Tea remained, yet all Unea­siness, on that Head, seemed to have subsided for a con­siderable Time past; that the End of both Parties was answered; the Parliament's in asserting, and America's in denying;’ and why, ‘it is asked, should not the Dispute rest at this Point? Fresh Clamours need not be made, until fresh Causes for such are given; new Distur­bances for an old Affront are neither consistent with the Dictates of Policy or Prudence;’ all this is granted; but I find we shall differ, as to the recent Causes of Complaint, which have been unjustly given to the Americans. Had the Duty on Tea continued, where it was left a few Years since, we should have troubled ourselves very little about it; but, if arbitrary Steps have been taken to force this Tea on the Colonists and compel them to pay the odious Duty, the Case becomes quite altered. Let us examine this Part of the Subject a little more minutely.

That a regular System hath been formed to subjugate America by establishing that civil List in the Colonies, which was planned and so earnestly recommended by a certain Go­vernour, must be evident to every attentive Observer of the Proceedings of Parliament for a Series of Years past. I will refer the Reader no farther back than the 4th Year of his present Majesty's Reign, when the Act passed imposing a Duty of £. 7 per Ton on Madeira Wine and other Duties on different Articles. These were acquiesced in, as they carried with them a specious Appearance of Advantage to the Colonies and bore the Semblance of Regulations of Com­merce. The Way being so far paved, the Minister then seized what was judged a convenient Opportunity to impose his Stamp Duties; the Americans were justly alarmed, plainly seeing through the whole Design. Upon a seasonable and spirited Opposition, the Stamp Act was repealed, but [Page 10] not without a Declaration of the Supremacy or rather Omni­potence of Parliament; this gave the Colonists very little Concern; a Declaration nearly of the same Sort, though not so extensive, has been made many Years before respecting Ireland; this declaratory Act might have remained, with the other as a dead Letter, unregarded, had there been no future Attempts to revive it. The favourite Scheme of an American Civil List seems to have been kept in full View, and the succeeding Minister, finding that the former Attacks on the Rights of the Colonies had been made too openly, thought it most prudent to shift the Ground and endeavour to effect the same Purpose by political Finesse His Manoeuvres were then displayed in another Act imposing Duties on Glass, Paper, Painter's Colours and Tea. This, at first, had the Appearance of a commercial Regulation; but the latent Design was soon detected and fully exposed. The Opposition made to the Measure produced a very inti­midating Address of both Houses of Parliament to the King, by which his Majesty was desired to have Prosecutions set on Foot against such, as were deemed principal Actors, upon a stale Statute of King Henry the 8th; the necessary Consequence would have been, that those, whom the Gover­nor thought proper, were to have been seized and transported to England, there to be tried for their supposed Offences, contrary to every Principle of Law and Justice. The Con­sistency of this Address with those Arguments urged by the ablest Advocates for Parliamentary Power to prove that the Colonies are so far a Part of the Empire of Great Britain, as to be subject to every Law of Parliament, is left to them and our Author to be reconciled. How could the Colonies avoid being alarmed at a Proceeding big with the most dan­gerous Consequences and utterly subversive of every Thing dear and valuable to them? These arbitrary Strides of Power were protested against by our House of Burgesses in their Session of 1769, and the Resolutions, they were driven into brought on the Dissolution of the Assembly. The [Page 11] Colony being reduced to so disagreeable a Situation, the first Association, which the Author affects to ridicule as a nuga­tory, insignificant Act, was entered into; and, though not so universally adopted nor so scrupulously adhered to, as it ought to have been, yet I am persuaded that it was the prin­cipal efficient Cause of a subsequent Act of Parliament in the succeeding Year, by which the Duties on all those Articles of British Manufacture, which included most that the Co­lonies had Occasion for, were repealed; the Duty on Tea, however, was still continued; for what Purpose will be pre­sently inquired. This repealing Act being attended with some particular Circumstances, not very friendly to America, the Association, upon being revised, was continued with some Alterations allowing Importers a greater Latitude. The Parliament not having revived their disagreeable Mea­sures, but shewn some Disposition by this Act to relieve America, at least, from a Part of her Grievances, many Persons became indifferent, as to the Association, and, at a general Meeting of the Associates, the Whole was dissolved except as to the Article of Tea, and others under the same Circumstances, which they continued to protect against. That this was too little regarded by many must be acknow­ledged: The Duty, merely as to the Quantum of it, might have been thought too inconsiderable to deprive them of what the Author supposes Custom had made almost a Neces­sary of Life; some Men still saw its evil political Tendency and therefore abstained from importing or buying it, though many others did not, and, I believe, they now sincerely re­pent that all had not held it in equal Abhorrence. That this Duty on Tea was originally imposed for the sole Purpose of raising a Revenue in America, and not as a commercial Re­gulation; and that it was afterwards retained, as a Precedent, I think, must be evident to every One, who considers the several Acts of Parliament relating to the Subject. The Act itself, which imposed this Duty, declares it to be for the Purpose of a Revenue. We all know that Tea paid a con­siderable [Page 12] Duty in England; the East India Company found great Difficulties in disposing of their Tea loaded with that Duty. The Parliament, in the very same Session, that the American Duty was imposed, passed another Act allowing a Drawback of the whole Duties payable in England on all Tea, which should be exported to America in the original Packages, upon the Company's agreeing to make good any Loss the Revenue might sustain by these Debentures. This Act was to continue to the 5th of July 1772. In the Session of the same Year, 1772, another Act passed, to continue for five Years, allowing a Drawback of three Fifths of the Duty on all Tea, which should be purchased of the Company and exported to America. We know that, by former Statutes, the Company were obliged to sell all their Commodities, Tea amongst the rest, at public Auction, by Inch of Candle, to the highest Bidders; and were not allowed to export any Thing on their own Account. In 1773, when it is probable the Plan was concerted for shipping the enormous Quantities of Tea, which have occasioned our Disturbances, to Ame­rica, another Act passed authorising the Company, under a Licence from the Commissioners of the Treasury, to export any Quantity of Tea to America, without being obliged to expose it at public Auction; and upon such Ex­portation, the whole English Duty was to be drawn back, instead of the three Fifths allowed by the Act of the former Session. The Question I would ask is this; if either a com­mercial Regulation or the general Revenue, and not the estab­lishing a Precedent against America, had been the Object of Parliament, why might not so much, at least, of the old Duty, as was thought sufficient to answer their American Purpose of barely raising Money, have been continued? This would have given no Uneasiness; the Expence and Trouble of collecting the Duty in America and remitting the Surplus, if any should arise, to the Receipt of his Ma­jesty's Exchequer in England would have been saved. The proper Answer to the Question will shew the Design of Par­liament, [Page 13] and, at, the same Time prove what the Company had in View by sending the Tea to America. The large Quantity, they had on Hand made it a Drug, and they had engaged to make good to Government any Deficiency that might arise on the Duty. The allowing the Company to export their Tea on their own Account, just at this Juncture, contrary to standing Regulations, which had subsisted for so many Years, affords an additional Proof of the Point in Ques­tion. Whatever Loss, therefore, the Company may have sustained by the Destruction of the Tea, or having it returned upon their Hands, should be placed to the Account of their own Imprudence, or rather, to what seems to have been a Co-operation with the Ministry to pour it down the Throats of the Americans. Suppose the Company had a Right to monopolise this Branch of Trade, to the Exclusion and Pre­judice of all other Merchants; were they not sufficiently ap­prised how very disagreeable and odious their sending the Tea to America would be to the Inhabitants of all the Con­tinent? Governor Johnston, we find, declared publicly in the House of Commons that he had warned their Chairman against sending over the Tea and told him the bad Conse­quences, that would probably attend such a Step; let the Refusal of several Captains of Ships to take it on Freight be also recollected. These Circumstances were surely enough to have convinced them that they could not expect, in a regu­lar, equal Course of Trade, to dispose of their Tea in Ame­rica. Was it not the greatest Insult upon this whole Con­tinent to attempt to force upon them a Commodity, which they had so much Reason to be convinced, when introduced in this Manner, would be considered as bringing with it those Shackles the Author speaks of? If the Company should pretend that they did not see the Matter in this Light, I would gladly know how other Men, of different Classes, happened to be so very sagacious as to foretel what followed? I cannot but suppose that the Company had one of two Things in View. They either must have hoped that the [Page 14] public Virtue of the Americans would not be able to with­stand the Temptation thrown in their Way; if they pur­chased the Tea, all would be well; both the Company's Purpose and that of Administration would be answered; the Drug would be got rid of and the Duty would be paid. If, in the second Place, the Scheme should be obstructed and the Tea thereby miscarry, their ultimate Expectation and Reliance seems to have been that the Ministry would support and indemnify them.

In Hopes of aggravating the Offence of the Bostonians, the Author tells us that, by ‘our Magna Charta, even Aliens are protected in their Commerce with us; and, had a Frenchman, the avowed Enemy of our Country, im­ported Tea into Boston he would have met with no Molestation;’ if this be so, Thanks to the Rigour of the Acts of Trade, Courts of Admiralty, &c. But, since he has drawn the Comparison, I would gladly know what Sort of Trade, even a Frenchman can carry on with Ame­rica, that would prove so injurious and destructive, as that which the Company endeavoured to force with the Colonists. I agree it is unlawful to trade with Foreigners, and that we ought, by no Means, to encourage such a Practice; but I say the Trade attempted by the Company, all Circumstances considered, was equally illegal and more unjust. I will sup­pose for a Moment, though the Fact is supported by no Sort of Evidence, which I know of, that the whole Town of Boston had been concerned in destroying the Tea, and sub­mit to every impartial Person how far they were blameable. I must here take Leave to remind our Author of one of his Law Maxims; Sic utere tuo, ut alienum non loedas. Make a free Use of your Property, but, so use it, as not to preju­dice what belongs to another. I take it that the Freedom and Liberties of America are pretty essential Parts of their Property; I also consider a Community was very materially interested in preserving the Virtue of its [...]ferent Members; [Page 15] so that every Infringement or Attempt to deprive the Own­ers of either Species of this Property, I conclude comes within the prohibitory Part of this Maxim. It is alledged that the Bostonians might have declined purchasing this Tea; but why should we expect to find a larger Portion of public Virtue amongst these People, than in other Countries? Many I make no Doubt would have refrained from buying, but others, probably could not, or would not have with­stood the Temptation of purchasing at Half Price.

The Company having been disappointed in one of their Expectations, they are now to be gratified in the other. The supreme, the omnipotent Power of Parliament is to be exerted to procure for them what is called Justice, Indem­nification, &c. The Account given us, is said to be a true State of the Case. As being in the Secrets of the Cabi­net [...], the Author may be supposed to know more than common Men; but I incline to think him mistaken in many essential Points; some Things, I am sure, are unfairly represented.

He introduces his State of Facts with the People of Rhode Island; the Case of the Gaspée Schooner and the Court of Inquiry. Would not a Stranger suppose, from his Relation of this Affair, that not only all the Inhabitants of Rhode Island, but that this whole Continent was concerned either in perpetrating, abetting, or countenancing that flagiti­ous and wicked Act of burning his Majesty's Schooner and maltreating the Commander? Nothing I believe was far­ther from the Truth; I am sure every Man, in this Colony, whom I heard speak on the Subject, loudly condemned the Deed, and, had it been in their Power, would I believe, have consigned the Perpetrators of it to a legal, exemplary and condign Punishment. ‘Government it is said, opened a Court of Inquiry and that this Mode of Proceeding was fixed on as a Test, from whence it might be known, [Page 16] whether this Insult was a general Act of the Province;’ if not, it was ‘concluded that the better Class of People would exert themselves in Order to bring the Offenders to Justice; that, no Discovery having been made, the Court could proceed no farther; and, though insulted in all the public Newspapers on the Continent, the Ministry were unwilling to proceed to Extremities, but sat down silently under the Affront, laughed at by the Rhode Islanders and held in Derision by Foreigners.’ Without detaining the Reader by a minute Scrutiny into the Propriety of hastily setting up this Court of Inquiry in a Country regularly established, and, where I should suppose, since we are not told the contrary, proper Jurisdictions are fixed, competent to the Examination and Punishment of all Of­fences and Transgressions of the Law; without relying on the just Alarms, which novel Jurisdictions are apt to give a free People, I must remind the Reader of a few trifling Circumstances, which seem to have been carefully kept behind the Scene. Will the Author allow us to recollect what was to have been done with the Culprits, had they been disco­vered. If I do not forget the Act of Parliament made on this Occasion, all Persons, supposed guilty of any of the Offences therein enumerated, were to be transported to Great Britain and there tried for their Lives. It was this, which gave the Alarm, and very justly to the whole Continent. I find a Disposition in some Men to aggravate every Transaction of the Americans into the most enormous Crime, whilst they are prepared to palliate and even justify every Act of the Ministry, however arbitrary and oppressive. The dragging a Man from all his Connexions into a distant Country to undergo the severest Trial; to strip him of the glorious Privilege of being tried by his Peers of his Vicinage, the most valuable Birthright of every Freeman; to deprive him of the Benefit of the Testimony of his Witnesses, whom he has no Means of compelling to cross the Atlantic; of the Assistance and Comfort of his Friends, when in a State of [Page 17] the deepest Affliction, and to expose him to the bitterest Persecution of his Enemies; these are trivial Circumstances, not worthy our Attention or Concern. If the Ministry were insulted in the public Papers, I had no Hand in it, though I frankly acknowledge my Concurrence in condemning so unconstitutional and oppressive a Measure and hope that no American will ever submit to it. Odious as so unjust and arbitrary an Act of Power must appear in the Eyes of every Friend to Liberty, the fundamental Principles of our Laws and Constitution; yet the Author is pleased to fix it as the Basis of his Justification of the Ministry in their Attack upon Boston, still, if possible, more cruel and unjust. As a Proof that the Ministry were not concerned in the Importation of the Tea, we are told that ‘the Admiral was desired to in­terfere, when the Disturbance happened,’ but declined doing so, considering it as a "mere mercantile Adventure." Viewing the Matter in this Light; did he not form the better Judgment? But how contrary is the Author's Asser­tion to the Admiral's own Letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, in which he desires the Lords of the Admiralty may be informed ‘that, during the whole Transaction, neither the Governor, Magistrates, Owners or Revenue Officers called for his Assistance; if they had, that he could easily have prevented the Execution of the Plan, but must have endangered the Lives of many innocent People by firing on the Town.’ I cannot, considering what has since happened, suppose the Governor and the other Persons alluded to, restrained from making such Application to the Admiral for his Assistance, by any Motives of Regard for the Inhabitants. We know there are sometimes Wheels within Wheels, to be put in Motion by secret Springs, which it is not always convenient to have exposed to common Observation. It seems to me that even the Preservation of their Tea, by all Accounts extremely mean in Quality, would not have answered the Company's Purpose so well, [Page 18] in several Respects, as the Retribution now demanded on their Behalf; and the immediate Suppression of what is called a Riot might have defeated the earnest Expectations of the Governor and the Revenue Officers. The Dutch we learn destroy large Quantities ot their Spices, in Order to enhance the Value of what remains upon Hand. How very conve­nient would it be to those People, could they but find out a Method of being paid for what they thus destroy? I do not presume to assert positively that the Ministry were con­cerned in planning and promoting the Scheme of sending the Tea to America; but does it appear, in the Course of all the Debates, we have seen, that they have once denied it? Does not the Act of Parliament last referred to, when com­pared with the several Measures lately adopted, furnish a strong presumptive Proof that it was undertaken, at least, with their Approbation? How could this Act have been procured without their Concurrence and Assistance? And why were not the Company allowed to export, on their own Account, other Articles besides Tea? I suppose there can be no Question made of the Advantages they would reap by monopolising the Exports as well as Imporrs of all the Commodities they deal in. Let the Boston Port Act and the other Bills brought into the House of Commons, by the Minister, which have probably been passed into Laws before this Time, be reviewed, and then, let those doubt, who can, whether every Step taken was not with a Design to compel the People of Boston, in the first Instance, and after this was done, the whole Continent to submit to the Payment of Duties imposed for the sole Purpose of raising a Revenue in America, and, in so doing, to the Power of Parliament in every other Instance, that they may be pleased to exert it. As a farther corroborative Proof, I would gladly know whe­ther it appears, from any authentic Document, that the Company ever lodged a Complaint against the Bostonians; they seem to have been either too conscious of their Fault to do it; or the Readiness and Alacrity, with which the Ministry [Page 19] seem to have engaged in the Business, might have superseded the Necessity of their complaining.

The Ministry, it is said, took the Matter up on two Prin­ciples. They considered, in the first Place, that the Idea en­tertained by the Bostonians of this being an Act of Government, was affrontive to the Crown and therefore deserved the Ani­madversion of Parliament. The second Reason was, ‘that, without the Intervention of the legislative Authority, there must be a Failure of Justice.’ It ought rather to have been supposed, under the first Head, that the Minister himself was affronted and vexed that the Scheme had been frustrated; for I cannot help distinguishing between the Crown and the Ministry on these Occasions.

In Proof of his second Reason, the Author is pleased to say, ‘the East India Company, it is true, might have brought their Actions against the Offenders; but how were they to find them? The Affair of the Gaspée afforded Proof enough that the Names of the Rioters would remain an impenetrable Secret; but, if their Names had been known, what Reason was there to expect on the Trial, a dispassionate Judge or a disinterested Jury, when the Minds of the People were so generally impressed with the Notion, that, with the Tea, were imported Shackles for themselves and their Posterity?’ As to the Difficulty in discovering the Names of the Offenders, would this have been any Thing more than the common Case; when either, from not being able to find out the Authors of a Mischief, or, from a Defect of Proof, the Person injured is obliged to sit down with the Loss? This may be a Misfortune, but, in the present State of human Affairs, it seems unavoidable. With Respect to the Want of a proper Judge or Jury, a dis­passionate, impartial Judge might surely have been found, either amongst the Commissioners of the Customs, or in one of the Courts of Admiralty on the Continent; he might have [Page 20] been invested with the full Powers both of Judge and Jury, and such a Jurisdiction would not have been a Whit more exceptionable, than the Powers given to Courts of Admiralty by this and several other Acts of Parliament. But the Mi­nistry could have had no just Grounds to suspect a Failure of Justice; several Instances had happened in that very Pro­vince sufficient to convince them of the contrary.

‘This Matter was, therefore, laid before Parliament, as the only Resource; who, in Consequence of it, thought proper to send an Armament to Boston in Order to oblige the People of that Place to make Retribution for the Injuries they had done, and to put a Check to that growing Disorder, which appeared to them to be Licen­tiousness, instead of Freedom, and which must endanger the Peace of the British Empire in America, unless it was smothered in its Infancy.’ We are told farther that the Resentment of Parliament was levelled only against the Town of Boston and that, if it had been intended against the whole Province, they would have stopped all Commu­nication with it; that this ought to convince every one that they have no Intention to injure any other Colony, un­less they commit the same Outrage, and then, it is probable, "the same Cause will produce the same Effect." Before the Author had supposed that only the Town of Boston and not other Parts of the Province would be affected, I wish he had read the Address of the Town of Salem to Governor Gage and learned their Sense of this Matter; after representing the great Injury that particular Town will sus­tain, they tell him ‘that there is not a Town in the Province, but will feel the ill Effects.’

The Author is pleased to confess that ‘the Part of the Act, which relates to Wharfs is exceptionable, as it is taking private Property out of the Hands of the Pos­sesors, who may be innocent Men, and, perhaps, have [Page 21] done nothing to forfeit their Rights.’ And is it, indeed, but barely exceptionable? Nothing more verily; since, in the succeeding Paragraph, we find an Apology ready prepared to justify even this Part of the Act. The Design of the Act, it seems, was only "punitory;" when that End is answered and Satisfaction made ‘to the East India Com­pany, he is persuaded that the Whole will be repealed.’ What are we to understand by the Term " punitory?" It may imply confiscating, hanging, burning; and, what not? But taking it in the most mollified Sense, the Author surely has never read the Boston Port Act, or must suppose that others have not done it, else he never would have given this as a true State of the Case.

What can he think of the Act's declaring void Charter Parties and Bills of Loading? What of the Clause (which may indeed carry with it an Air of Indulgence) effectually restraining his Majesty from opening the Port, till Peace and Obedience to the Laws are so far restored in the Town of Boston, that his Majesty's Customs may be duly collected? By Obedience to the Laws I understand an implicit Submission to all Acts of Parliament whatever; by Customs, is plainly meant all such Duties, as the Parliament may think fit to impose. This obvious Comment may fairly be made from the Complexion of the Act itself, and is clearly and fully justified by the other Bills before alluded to.

What shall we think of his Majesty's being also restrained from opening any Part of the Port, ‘till full Satisfaction is made to the East India Company for the Damages they have sustained; and until it shall be certified to his Majesty in Council by the Governor or Lieutenant Governour, that reasonable Satisfaction hath been made to the Officers of the Revenue and others who suffered by the Riots, &c?’ Here it is plain that these devoted People, and some of them supposed, even by the Author [Page 22] himself, to be innocent, are thrown into the Hands of the Ministry [...] Privy Council, our gracious Sovereign being restricted, without their Consent, from extending his Mercy to those unhappy Objects; and, what is still worse, if possible, there being no Account of Damages liquidated, the Deliverance of them from the Hardships and Calami­ties, they are now groaning under, must, in a great Measure, depend on their discharging such Claims, as the Company, the Officers of the Revenue and others may ex­hibit against them; and, moreover, they are not to be relieved, till the Governor or Lieutenant Governor may be pleased to grant a Certificate The Proceedings, I own are uniform and of a Piece; but I defy their Authors to main­tain them on any Principles of Justice. Notwithstanding all these Things, he endeavours to persuade us that we have no just, recent Ground of Complaint and that the other Colonies need not be afraid. When my Neighbour's House is on Fire, it highly behoves me to look to my own. When the rest of America sees a Sister Colony grievously oppressed by the Hand of Power, and this, for making a Stand against the Infringements and Violations ot American Rights; they are surely called upon loudly by every Prin­ciple or Justice, of public Virtue, and by every Motive to Self Preservation, to pursue such legal and proper Means, as are most likely to save them from Ruin. Would not all the Colonies have the greatest Reason to fear, it they con­tinue supine and indifferent to the Proceedings against Boston, that they might all, in Time, upon a Refusal to submit to any Act of Parliament, however oppressive, be exposed to the same rigorous Treatment? And have we not too many Proofs that a regular System has been formed to bow down the Neck of America to the Feet of the Minister? Humili­ating, dreadful Thought!

‘That the Bostonians have acted unwarrantably, in the Opinion of our Author, cannot be denied by the most [Page 23] zealous American.’ He should not be too precipitate in pronouncing the Sentiments of others. Many judicious, upright Men, who, I believe, are now fully convinced, had their Doubts, at first, upon this Point; they suspended their Judgments, till they could be satisfied of the Motives, which actuated the Bostonians, and of the Evidence, they might have to produce of what Part the Ministry took in this Business at the Beginning of it. Granting, however, for a Moment, that the People of Boston might have acted unwarrantably; yet, what hath the Parliament done? Or rather, what hath it not done? It is much to be suspected that the Author, as well as many others, in considering this mixed Question, has attended only to one Side of it. Upon the above Concession, then, some of the Men of Bos­ton and in its Neighbourhood have acted unwarrantably in destroying the Property of the East India Company. In this Town live a great many Thousand Inhabitants, amongst whom are, probably, many Widows and Orphans deeply interested in the Trade of the Place, its Wharfs, Storehouses and other Appendages. Several principal Proprietors might have been absent, when the Fact was committed. Many of these must be presumed entirely innocent; the Guilty however deserve Punishment. The Law is open to the In­jured; and, if the Aggressors can be found out, there is a proper Jurisdiction to award such Punishment, as the Law hath prescribed. From a groundless Apprehension (I take the Liberty of calling it so, till the contrary is proved) that Justice will not be impartially administered, the Minis­try take the Matter up and lay it before Parliament. A Bill is brought in; the Parties accused, contrary to every Rule of Justice, are condemned, without being cited to answer what is laid to their Charge; a few of their Friends, who happened to be on the Spot, are refused to be heard, and an Act of Parliament, inflicting the severest Penalties, is passed with unusual Precipitation; a Fleet and an Arma­ment are hurried across the Atlantick with the utmost [Page 24] Rapidity, as if it was intended that they should be the first Bearers of the fatal Tidings, and the dreadful Announcers of the Doom of these unhappy People. So much for the Method of Proceeding. Let us attend a little more particularly to the Act itself and its mischievous Conse­quences.

In the Author's pompous Display of the Beauties of the British Constitution and the Laws of Parliament, he should have recollected one very essential Point more, which seems to crown the Whole, and without which, the Power of Parliament would become odious to every Man of free and liberal Sentiments. What I allude to will be best explained by the following Observations.

To the Parliament it, of Right, belongs to make and enact Laws for the better Government of all properly within its Jurisdiction; for the Encouragement of those, who do well and the Punishment of all Transgressors. If Offences should arise, not guarded against by Law, this Defect of Provision is to be ascribed either to the Neglect of the Legis­lature, or to the Imbecillity and short-sightedness of human Nature. Every Instance of this Sort should point out to the Lawgiver a future Remedy, which ought to be provided with all Expedition and without Respect of Persons. When general Regulations and Laws are established, by which every Individual in Society is to be bound and governed, such Laws are equal; the Legislature acts upon truly po­litical and constitutional Principles, uninfluenced by Parti­ality, Resentment or the Temper of the Times. Of such Laws, as these, or rather, the Mode of enacting them, none can with Reason complain. But we should be careful never to lose Sight of the material Difference between the legislative, the judicial, and executive Parts of our Constitution; since, upon a due Attention to and Observance of these Distinc­tions, the Preservation of the Whole so very materially de­pends. [Page 25] Occurrences prejudicial to Society may happen, which have not yet been provided against by any Law; but these cannot be punished, without a gross Infringement of the vital Principles of the British Constitution, and a direct Oppugnation to a superior Authority; by which we are taught, that, where there is no Law, there can be no Trans­gression. We know very well that, by the most just and invariable Rules of judging, penal Laws are to be con­strued strictly; so that no One accused can be subjected to a Penalty, unless he falls expressly within it. Upon what is this Rule founded? but the Reason and Principles of eternal Justice (which Legislatures as well as Judges should have imprinted on their Hearts in indelible Characters) that penal Laws ought never to be calculated, like Snares, to catch Men; on the contrary, that no One should be subjected to the Pains of them, unless clearly and fully convicted. Again; we have another Maxim in our Constitution, namely, that it is better many guilty Persons should escape Punish­ment, than that one Innocent should suffer. We know ten righteous Persons would once have saved a whole City; but this it seems is an antiquated Doctrine, extracted from a strange old History; and the Reverse is now to take Place in the System of modern Politicks. Let these Observations be applied to the Case in Hand. The Persons actually guilty of the supposed Offences at Boston were subject to the Penalties, and those only, of the Laws then in Force; if there were no such Laws, I say they were not liable to any Penalty at all. Shew me the Law enacted by proper Au­thority, or submitted to by immemorial Usage, declaring that the Port of Boston or any other Town should be blocked up and the Trade, almost, of a whole Country destroyed, even supposing all the Inabitants of the Town guilty, which is not pretended in the present Case, and I will agree that the Penalty might be legally infflicted. There are many Persons confessed to be grievously oppressed [Page 26] by this Act, who are perfectly innocent. Let a Law enacted by proper Authority be produced, which declares that all the Inhabitants ot Boston or any other Town, whether inno­cent or guilty, shall be punished most severely for the Acts of Violence or Intemperance of Individuals committed either in their own Town or its Neighbourhood, and I will kiss the legal Rod, and yield up the Argument; but, if no such Law can be produced, I take the Liberty to pronounce that the Boston Port Act, considering it in a judicial Point of View, is unconstitutional; that, as an Act of legislative Power, it is entirely ex post facto, in the most odious Sense of the Words; and that, with Respect to all those especially, who were confessedly innocent, it constitutes a new Crime and inflicts a Punishment, which cannot be justified. Here, I suppose, will be called into the Author's Aid, the Precedents urged on the other Side of the Water. I shall not, for Brevity's Sake, quote them all; but refer my Readers to the rest, with the Answers given to them, contenting myself, with mentioning only two, the most capital.

In the Reign of King Charles the second, when Dr. Lamb was killed by unknown Persons, the City of London was fined; and, in Captain Portius's Affair, a Fine was set upon the whole City of Edinburgh. I take the Liberty of referring for an Answer to these Examples, in Part, to what was urged, with much Propriety, by a few worthy, patriotic Americans in their Petition against the Boston Port Bill. I give it in their own Words, as I would by no Means mutilate that Part of a Petition, which must for ever endear them to all their Countrymen. ‘The Case of the King against the City of London, say they, was for a Murder committed within its Walls by its Citizens in open Day. But, even then, arbitrary as the Times were, the Trial was public in a Court of Common Law; the Party heard and the Law, laid down by the Judges, was, [Page 27] that it was an Offence, at Common Law, to suffer such a Crime to be committed in a walled Town, Tempore diurno, and none of the Offenders to be known or in­dicted. The Case of Edinburgh, in which the Parlia­ment interfered, was the Commission of an atrocious Murder within her Gates, and aggravated by an overt Act of High Treason, in executing, against the express Will of the Crown, the King's Laws. They observed that these Cities had, by Charter, the whole executive Power within themselves, so that a Failure of Justice necessarily ensued from their Connivance. In both Cases, however, full Time was allowed them to discharge their Duty, and they were heard in their own Defence. But Time was not allowed to the Bostonians, nor were they heard. Boston is not a walled Town, nor is the execu­tive Power in their Hands, but in the Governor's; nor was the Fact committed within it.’ These Reasons I should have thought sufficient to discriminate the different Cases; but my Objection is laid still deeper, as I am for reducing Things to their proper Principles. Shew me the Law, subsisting at the Time these Offences were said to have been committed, imposing the Penalties inflicted, and I will agree that such Proceedings, before a proper Judicature, might have been right; otherwise, from the established Principles of the Constitution, I shall not scruple to declare them arbitrary Exertions of despotick Power. Admit but an Authority in Parliament, not only to create new Offences, after they are supposed to have been committed, but to inflict what Punishments they please for the same, and I would gladly know what will become of that Security for their Properties, their Liberties and Lives, which English­men boast of, as derived from the Independence of their Judges and the Permanency of Tenure, by which they enjoy their Offices. Let the Author disprove my Positions, and he will make Room for constructive Treasons and Felonies; (a Doctrine long since exploded by all judicious, good Men, [Page 28] as replete with Horror;) he will repeal the famous Statute of Edward the III. long ago established by other Acts of Parliament, as a Criterion and Test not to be departed from; and, above all, he will prove IRREFRAGABLY that a Man may transgress a Law, which never had Existence. If he should tell me of the Power, or rather Omnipotence of Parliament and the Necessities of State, I have to remind him that such a Power is inadmissible, since it contradicts a more transcendent Authority; and that no Exigency of Government can commute for so flagrant a Violation of the first and fundamental Principles of the Constitution and the sacred Laws of Justice. If, in attempting to reason on these Principles, I am drawn back to the State of Nature, where, according to the old Vulgarisms, Might was sure to overcome Right, and, where the weakest always went to the Wall, I must drop my Pen, and go in Quest of a new Topick.

‘There is nothing, we are told, so likely to enforce the Act, as Violence. Reparation will ever be demanded, when an Injury is received. In estimating the Damages, there will always be an Article in the Account relative to that, which is wished to be enforced; and, if we are ob­liged to pay the one, what will prevent our being forced to discharge the other?’ Here the whole Secret trans­pires. What is that Article, which is wished to be enforced, but the detestable Duty on Tea? This we will agree was the primary, the principal Object. The Author speaking here of Force, recalls my Attention to a former Part of his Work, which I, by no Means, intended to neglect. There we are told the "most stubborn (by which are plainly meant the unhappy Americans) must" yield to superior "Force." This without Question is a most powerful and irresistible Argument. A Man of superior Strength it would be imprudent in me wantonly to provoke. But, if he treats me ill; if he irritates and oppresses me; am I [Page 29] bound by any Laws, human or divine, to continue my good Offices towards him, so as to increase his Power of doing me farther Mischief? Prudence advises that I should lessen my Connexions with him; and, if he proceeds to Acts of open Violence against me, Self Preservation, the very first Law of Nature, demands that I should defend myself to the utmost of my Power.

The Author's Aphorism that ‘Friendship sometimes gathers new Force and Vigour, after an Interruption of its Intercourse,’ may be true enough; though I think he had better have set it to the Tune of Amantium Irae Amoris, &c. than attempted to prove it, by his subsequent Prophecy; which seems rather intended to keep up the alarm in Great Britain, than to answer any other Purpose. Peeping into the Womb of Time, he has discovered and foretold that America will, one Day, become independent.

The principal, avowed Cause of the present rigorous Mea­sures against America seems to arise from a Jealousy excited by an Apprehension that we affect and aim at Independency; and we cannot gain Credit, notwithstanding our explicit and most solemn Assurances of the contrary. For myself, I do protest before God and the World, that the utmost of my Wish is, that Things may return to their old Channel, when we lived a free and happy People. This obtained, I would, with Pleasure, say to each Country, ESTO PERPETUA. He had before given it as his Opinion that the Americans might argue till Doomsday, but that he was afraid they would find the ‘Parliament deaf to their Reasoning and their Elo­quence unavailing;’ what can he now mean by Abate­ment of Rigour on their Part, and Relaxation on ours; unless it is, that America should offer a Carte blanche, in Hopes of prevailing with Parliament to desist from Punishment?

[Page 30]The great Pains he has taken to discourage Strangers from migrating to America affords another strong Proof of his Regard for this Country. For my Part, I am so thoroughly persuaded of the JUSTICE OF OUR CAUSE, that I have no Doubt of establishing our Liberties upon so sure a Founda­tion, that Strangers will applaud our generous Struggles to preserve those precious Enjoyments and become the more anxious to settle in America, as in a Land of Freedom.

The Association entered into, upon the Dissolution of our Assembly, I find hath afforded the Author a Subject for Mirth and Pleasantry. Whether this is a Season for such delicious Entertainments, others will judge. Upon me they are entirely lost. I had before heard this Association found Fault with, as not being extensive enough; so that I could little expect to see it ranked by any one amongst violent Measures; much less, that so respectable a Number of Gen­tlemen would be ridiculed for that Moderation, which, to all impartial Persons, must afford the clearest Proof of their In­clination to live on the most friendly Terms with their Fel­low Subjects in Great Britain. However, when these Re­solutions were entered into, it was uncertain what Measures the other Colonies would adopt; we did not know how far the Ministry had been instrumental in bringing such exten­sive Mischiefs on our Sister Colony; nor could we foresee what farther Steps the Parliament would take. The East India Company was considered as extremely culpable, and therefore it was resolved that they should reap as little Ad­vantage from us, as possible. All their Commodities were protested against, except Saltpetre and Spices. These Ex­ceptions were not made, from an Opinion that we could not possibly do without those Articles. Saltpetre and Spices were considered not only as useful for various Purposes of Life, but many of them, as necessary in Medicine, Cordials and other Nourishments required by sick Persons. None of the Associates, I believe, had Respect to their Palates; and, had [Page 31] these been their Object, I am apt to think it would have been a Foible common to them with some others, and should have supposed that the Author, at least, would have looked on it as a venial Error and treated it with greater Indul­gence. A Resolution to abolish Tea, even that on Hand, totally, was prudent and necessary; as the Stocks of some People, to whose Happiness it seems so very essential, would probably never have been exhausted. Great as my Fondness for this delightful Herb once was, I am now taught to con­sider it as the very accursed Thing, that ought to be banished, with Disdain and Horror, from every American Society.

The future Associations, as proposed by many of the Co­lonies, as well as most, I believe, of our Inhabitants, become the next Objects of the Author's Animadversion. With Respect to stopping our Exports, there seems to be a Variety of Opinions, as to the Propriety and Justice of this Measure; though few, whom I have conversed with, doubt the Ex­pedience and Necessity of the other. These Matters, how­ever, will soon be determined at a general Meeting of De­puties from the different Counties; when I make no Ques­tion, every Subject will be discussed with that Calmness and Deliberation, which its Importance may demand. Those Gentlemen, who incline to adopt both Schemes, I dare say, are actuated by the purest Motives to the public Good. The Parliament they consider as having set the Example in stop­ing both Imports and Exports to and from the Town of Boston. If the Parliament considers the Advantages of Trade to that Town in so very interesting a Light, as to suppose that, rather than forego such great Emoluments, the Inhabitants will submit to any Acts of Oppression; the Advocates for promoting both these Measures, knowing the almost unspeakable Benefits, which Great Britain derives from her Trade with the Colonies, give it, as their Opinion, that she will be equally attentive to her own Interest and the sooner prevailed with to shorten her outstretched Arm, and [Page 32] do the Americans Justice. Stopping of Exports from one Country indebted to another, where she has usually traded, may lay individual Creditors under temporary Inconvenien­cies and Hardships, and can be justified only in Cases of the extremest Necessity. If, however, the Safety of a Commu­nity depends upon its being done, the Salus Populi then be­comes suprema Lex. Those, who think their Liberties, their Properties, their every Thing, dear and valuable, at Stake, and in the most imminent Danger of being wrested from them, can have but little Spirit or Inclination to labour and toil for their Creditors, especially, if they with-hold their Assistance in endeavouring to relieve them from Oppression. They ought however, in Justice, to pay their Debts with Interest, so soon as it may be in their Power; and they should be ready and willing to give up so much of their Property, if required, as will discharge them immediately. It is, after all that can be said, a very delicate Point. The Honour of the Country, which ought ever to be held sacred, may pos­sibly be impeached and reflected upon by such, as are Stran­gers to the governing Motives; but, as a Man is satisfied or not of the Purity and Uprightness of his own Intentions, his Conscience will either acquit or condemn him. What I should think might, in a great Measure, satisfy the most rigid Casuist, that nothing base can lie at the Bottom of such a Scheme, if it is adopted, is, that the engaging in and ad­hering to it must require the greatest Sacrifice of private In­terests and the most vigorous Exertions of public Virtue.

The Non-importation Plan, no One can with Reason object to; not even the warmest and most virulent Advocate for ministerial Measures. As a free Man, I surely have a Right to buy or import, and refrain from both, if I please; in the Exercise of this Privilege I shall transgress, notwith­standing the Declarations of a late unprecedented Proclamation, no Law divine or human. If such a Proclamation, denoun­cing the heaviest Pains and Penalties, can be justified; I [Page 33] should not be surprised to see a peremptory Mandate sent over to America, commanding every Man to plant so many Thousand Tobacco Hills, &c. &c. for the Enhancement of the Revenue, the Encouragement and Advancement of the Shipping and Trade of Great Britain.

Stoping of Imports only I am hopeful might have all the good Effects, we wish for; but, should I be disap­pointed in this, and our Exports be still continued, as usual; I shall have to lament most severely that both Measures were not adopted. The Schemes united most certainly would, and it is probable that either of them will affect the Inhabi­tants of Great Britain of every Class, in a most sensible Manner. Those, who think the Tradesmen and Mechanicks only will suffer, seem to have taken but a partial View of the Case. There is so intimate and nice a Connection be­tween the different Branches of Trade and Business of every Kind in that Country, that few of them can be affected without the Whole bearing some Proportion of whatever Loss may be sustained. The Landholder, and the Merchant will feel the Inconvenience, as well as the Tradesman and Me­chanick. When the Interest of all these comes to be worked upon, they will be convinced that the oppressive Schemes of the Ministry could not be enforced without the Concurrence of their Representatives in Parliament; they will, it is hop­ed, be excited, not to Acts of Violence, but to a proper and seasonable Exertion of that constitutional Influence and Autho­rity, which they have a Right to exercise. Should their Endeavours to relieve America from her Distresses be with­held, whatever Inconveniencies they may be put to, the Colonies must surely be acquitted by every impartial Judge. Much less Reason can they have to complain, if stoping Exports to Great Britain is postponed to a distant, future Day; this will give sufficient Notice of what they may ex­pect; a great Part of the American Debts will certainly be [Page 34] discharged, and the Resources the Colonies will have left, if they are permitted to draw from them, will, in all Proba­bility, enable them to pay off the full Balance in a reasonable Time. Let America but stop her importing Hand; apply a proper Share of her Industry to Manufactures, and the rest of her Labour to cultivating and raising such Articles, as she is allowed to export to other Markets, and I have the most sanguine Expectations that she will, not only very speedily extricate herself from Debt, but find the Balance considerably in her Favour. Should she, by the Hand of Power, be laid under farther Restrictions in her Trade, and by this Means any Part of her Debt remain unsatisfied, the Fault will not be her's. So that every Suggestion of a Design in the Colonists to extinguish the smallest Portion of their Debts must appear groundless and unjust. I know it has been insinuated, with a View to fix an Odium on the Co­lonies, that they have failed in former Engagements to satisfy their Creditors; but this, considered as an Accusation on the whole Continent, as it must have been intended, I am convinced is without Foundation. That some Individuals may have remained in Debt for a Number of Years and that Insolvencies may have happened in America, as well as Great Britain, I will not deny; but chief of the old Balan­ces, I make no Doubt, have been long since paid off, and that the Debts, now due, have been mostly contracted since in a Course of Trade equally, if not more, advantageous to the British Merchants and Traders, than to the Colonists. For the Truth, at least Probability of this, I appeal to the various Solicitations and Allurements held out, particularly to my Countrymen, to engage and continue in this Trade. The Balance against America proves clearly on which Side the Advantage has been.

Unless the Author is prepared for a Disappointment, I would not have him depend too much on his present Opinion of the proposed Association compared with that entered into [Page 35] some Years ago. I have already hinted some of the Rea­sons why this was neglected; but I am convinced he will find a quite different Spirit prevailing throughout America at this Time. Those Diversities of Opinions and Differences of Interest, which formerly subsisted, will now, I am per­suaded, be sacrificed to the Good of the Whole. Whether the Duty on Tea was, at first, considered as an internal Tax or not, is now quite immaterial. The Designs of the Ministry were not then seen through by many; but I think I have shewn clearly that this Duty had originally every odious Feature of such a Tax. Can a Doubt now remain, when we find an Armament sent either to enforce the Pay­ment of it or to punish most severely those, who refuse to do it? Such a Refusal, as this, the Author would construe into a Resistance of the Authority of Parliament to lay Duties on their own Commodities, which we do not wish to question, when it is really done as a commercial Regulation. I grant, it makes no Difference to me, as to the Quantum of the Tax, whether it is paid in Great Britain or the Colonies; whether my Merchant pays it for me, or whether I do it myself; but Circumstances will make that oppressive in one Case, which would be almost indifferent in another. I have neither paid this Tax myself nor allowed my Merchant to do it for me, since the Use of Tea was resolved against in America; and, which is still more, I never will pay it.

The Mention of a Precedent, our Author, in the Abun­dance of his Politeness, tells us is ridiculous; and we are referred to the List of his favourite Duties to see whether there has been any Want of Examples. That America hath acquiesced in and paid former [...] and some of these merely internal, I do not deny; but she did not discover their dangerous Tendency till, within these few Years, her Eyes were clearly opened by farther Encroachments. Why must the Mention of Precedents be ridiculous, when we find they were strenuously relied on by the Minister, and all [Page 36] his Advocates, to justify the Stamp Act, and are still quoted as Authorities to rivet Chains about our Necks? Is it not high Time for America to look about her and not suffer ancient Precedents to acquire additional Weight from others more recent? We are again reminded of the Power of Parliament to enforce such Duties, as they may think expedient; and are told that America will refuse the Pay­ment of them, whenever she is able. Is it not strange that a Gentleman, who professes himself so great a Friend to lenient Measures, should, at every Turn, take so much Pains to remind Parliament of its superior Power, and flatter America that she will, one Day, be able, and cer­tainly will resist it? Is not this the most direct and surest Method of sowing the Seeds of perpetual Discord? We are advised truly for the present, to affect a Submission; but still are to harbour in our Breasts the Poison of Discontent and Animosity, which must fester and rankle to such a Degree, that they will, at a future Day, most assuredly burst forth with redoubled Violence and Fury. Whether such Sentiments, as these, are likely to prove inimical or friendly to either Country, let them both judge. The Author widely mistakes what the true and real Friends of America hope to have done. They do not desire to leave every Thing to Posterity, but rather wish to have Matters now settled upon such Principles, as will lay a strong and broad Foundation of Concord and reciprocal Friendship, never more to be interrupted.

As to [...] up the Courts of Justice; it is a Measure, I own, that cannot be justified, but in Cases of the last Necessity. If, however, the Magistrates, who act on Oath, think they cannot proceed in Business without a Fee Bill, what would the Author have them do more, than exercise that Part of their Office, which is necessary to pre­serve the Peace and good Order of Society? This I under­stand is universally resolved on throughout the Country. [Page 37] That the Fee Bill has expired is a Circumstance we lament and ought not to be blamed for. Before he censured the Magistates so very severely for declining to sit, he would have done well to consider how far he himself coincided. If I am not mistaken, this Gentleman holds a Seat in one or more Courts of Justice; he should let us know what Part he took to prevent the Occlusion of those Courts, and then, perhaps, his Arguments would have more Weight.

The Association he would recommend is that we should all unite in Virtue; public Virtue, he is careful to tell us he means, lest, I suppose, we should put too great a Value on the other. Public Virtue is what we earnestly wish to rouse and excite in every American Breast; since, without it, we may probably suffer in the very best of Causes. But why is private Virtue so low in his Esteem? Without this, the other, in my Judgment, is like the baseless Fabrick of a Vision. If a Man is not just to himself, I can hardly suppose he will be so to others, upon any trying Emergency. What is called public Virtue, unless built on private Virtue, will become too precarious and unstable to be relied on. A Man, with a small Stock of private Virtues, may, in­deed, as his Interest governs, do a Thing, from which the Public may reap Advantage; shift but the Scene; let his Interest draw in a different Direction, and we shall find him, Proteus like, put on a new Livery. It may be relied on as a certain Truth, exemplified by the most extensive Experience, that no Man can be safely trusted, who does not act upon solid, virtuous Principles. We are advised to apply ourselves quietly to the Cultivation of our Soil; but how can this be done without the Permission of a superior Power? How can it with Reason, be expected that we should labour, unless we are kindly allowed to reap and enjoy the Fruits of our Toil?

[Page 38] ‘Our public Happiness, we are told, depends on the People;’ granted that it does in a great Measure. Had the Author added to his List of Qualifications necessary to make a proper Representative, that he ought to be a Man of private as well as public Virtue; One who really loves his Country, and would support her true Interest, even though he should be forced to sacrifice every sinister, selfish Considera­tion, it would have made the Catalogue nearly complete; but I should like it still better, if a proper Respect and Re­verence for Religion were required as an essential Part of the Character.

I am now led to take a View of the Author's very curious and decent Strictures on the Fast, which was recommended by the late House of Burgesses to the Members. Upon this Subject, he seems to have opened every Vein of paltry Ridi­cule; but surely he hath either strangely mistaken, or pro­fanely applied his Talent. He might have learned from one of those great Masters, under whose Auspices he probably was nurtured, that Ridicule is the Test of Truth, and thought this a fit Opportunity to display it with Advantage. A Stranger, from his Representation, would suppose that we had acted a ridiculous Farce, instead of what was so solemnly recommended. Though the Author had lost Sight of all Decorum, he should, at least, have confined himself to the Rules of Justice. I beg to know of him in whose Houses those sumptuous Suppers, he alludes to, were served up at Night. I am sure I neither saw nor heard any Thing of the Sort. Those, who had fasted through the Day, it was sup­posed would refresh themselves in the Evening. Nature re­quired and Decency did not forbid it. It could hardly have been expected, even by the most indigent, (who it seems have suddenly become Objects of his great Care) that the Calls and Cravings of Nature should have remained unan­swered. Savings, indeed, in Instances of Superfluity and pompous Parade, may properly be expected, as well towards [Page 39] their Relief, as the Satisfaction of all other just Demands. He has exceedingly mistaken the Matter, in supposing that the Authors of the Measure either wished for his Commenda­tions or to be tickled by his Flatteries.

‘Fasting, we are told, when observed and repeated in a proper Manner, may be salutary to the natural Body;’ (thus much no Doubt he collected from Experience;) ‘but how the political body can be benefited by changing the Hour of dining and making the Repast in the Evening, instead of the Afternoon (which was all that was required on the late Occasion, except the Circumstances of attend­ing the public Worship, in which, instead of a Form composed for the Purpose, the ordinary Service of the Day was read) is what he cannot account for.’ Not to be tedious in useless Quotations, I must refer the Reader to some other of his very pretty Observations that follow. As he seems little acquainted with the Reasons for setting apart particular Days for solemn Fasting and Prayer on any Occa­sion, and the Motives, which governed on a late one, I will take the Liberty to express my Sense of both.

There are many, it is to be hoped, ( would GOD there were more) who do not consider this as a poor, Orphan World, discharged, so soon as it was called into Being, from the Care, Superintendence, and Protection of its all-wise, and bountiful CREATOR. Things, in general, they know are left to pursue their ordinary Course, in Conformity to the Laws of their Nature; but still, they consider the whole World as under the Direction of PROVIDENCE. They have been taught that not even a Sparrow falleth to the Ground, without the Permission of their heavenly FATHER. They are enjoined not only to pray, but to be instant in Prayer, for his Mercies and Protection. Upon these Principles is founded and established, by Authority, the Service of our excellent Church, which I would recommend to the Author's more [Page 40] serious Consideration. Not only Individuals, but, in a more especial Manner, Nations and Countries, as having their Existence solely in this Life, have been considered by all Ages, and particularly by all good Christians, as under the Guidance of Heaven. In Cases of general Calamity, either already felt or apprehended, what can be more decent and proper than to look up to that Providence, who we are instructed to believe ruleth the Hearts of Kings and Governors, according to his good Pleasure, and to implore the Assistance and Blessings of his fatherly Goodness; at the same Time making Use of all those just and proper Means, which he either hath been, or may be pleased to afford us for our Protection. Previous, however, to this, we should be extremely careful to examine our Hearts; to endeavour at a Reformation of whatever may be found amiss; to repent heartily of all our Sins and to prepare our Minds for the Reception of the Influences of his GOOD SPIRIT. Can any Means be better adapted to this End, than withdrawing our Attention, for a Season, from the Business and Cares of the World, and mortifying all our corrupt Affections by FASTING and PRAYER? To suppose that any good Effect could have been expected from the mere postponing a Dinner, to use the Author's polite Phrase, would have been ridiculous. I have too much Reason to believe that the Design of this Fast was either misunderstood or misrepresented from the first, having been informed that it was spoke of by some as a Scheme calculated to inflame and excite an enthusiastic Zeal in the Minds of the People, under a Cloak of Religion; than which nothing could be more calumnious and unjust. The Author must know that the Resolution was not smuggled, but proposed in a very full House, not above one Dissentient appearing amongst near an Hundred Members. He, himself, I believe was present, and should be glad to know whether he opened his Mouth against the Measure? Surely he could not want that Resolution, he so earnestly recommends, to have [Page 41] avowed his Disapprobation. The mixing of Religion with civil Matters, merely to inflame People's Minds, I know has been practised on some Occasions, but I have ever considered it not only as culpable, but extremely wicked. It gave me Pain to find that the Resolution of the House was considered as reflecting upon our gracious Sovereign. Nothing, I hope and believe, was farther from the Intention of those, who voted for the Fast, than this. I speak posi­tively for myself.

The Minds of many People, especially of their Repre­sentatives, were a good Deal agitated, at a former Session upon receiving an Account of the Act of Parliament respect­ing Rhode Island, and for the Reasons before given. When the Boston Port Act appeared at the last Session, the general Uneasiness, that prevailed must be remembered. Many Expedients were thought of and the Measure proposed was the Result of much Deliberation. Its primary Object I have endeavoured to explain; but there were others of a secondary Nature. So far from designing to inflame, I believe it was expected that the Generality of People would be brought to a serious and proper Sense of their Danger; the Conduct they ought to hold; and, at the same Time, that it would be a Means of restraining them from Acts of Violence and Intemperance. It was, with much Pleasure, I observed that these Effects were produced. Another good Influence it might have been expected to have, was, that certain GREAT MEN of this Earth might be brought to a proper Sense of that Justice, which is due to all their Fellow Subjects, by reminding them that there is a superior Power, even a GOD IN HEAVEN, to whom they will be one Day accountable for all their Actions. As to the ordinary Service of the Church being only performed on the Oc­casion; the late House of Burgesses must think them­selves peculiarly unfortunate in fallling under the Author's [Page 42] Censure for this. They did not presume to desire that any Additions should be made to that sacred Office, which they knew was properly adapted to every Purpose. They did not wish that any Thing particularly pointed or inflamma­tory should fall from the Pulpit. A general Display of the Superintendence of Providence, and the Influence, which a thorough Conviction and Remembrance of this, ought to have, together with an implicit Reliance on his Goodness, were the Doctrines, which they desired to have inculcated, leaving the Congregation to their own Reflections in making proper Applications. The People of Boston will have no Reason to suppose that it was our Design to fob them off, in their unhappy Situation, with Fasting and Prayer. They will soon be informed, if they have not heard it already, how very cordially we sympathise with them in their Dis­tresses, and that we are exerting every Means, in our Power, for their Relief. Should we, indeed, pursue his Advice, it would be fobbing them off with a Witness. The Author, not having professedly entered upon that long agitated Question, respecting the Authority of Parliament to tax the Colonies, I am very willing to rest the Point upon what hath been already written by abler Pens, much to my Satisfaction, and to my thorough Conviction that they have no such Authority.

At length he draws to a Conclusion and tells us that he has ‘spoke pretty much in Generals, but, if called upon, can descend to Particulars.’ It would have been obliging to the Public, if he had favoured them with any farther material Observations; but what can he have left unsaid, that would answer his Purpose? That he is determined to act with Caution, none, I believe, will doubt; but I have lived to see some very cautious Persons fall through their deepest Schemes. Could the Author sup­pose that those servile, dangerous Doctrines, he hath ad­vanced, would remain unnoticed? With what Justice or [Page 43] Propriety could he presume to censure what he is pleased to call the Severity of some Men's Tempers, when he so roundly charges those, who differ from him in Sentiments, with Want of "Integrity;" with the "Arts of Dissimu­lation" and almost every Species of Baseness? Could he flatter himself that " Men of Sense" would not easily see through his "Deception," and, as easily, distinguish it from " Reality," notwithstanding the solemn Appeal he makes to that great ‘Day, when the Actions of all Men will be fully discovered, and their Integrity known?’

It is more than probable that a Reply will be attempted to what I have written. Should it contain any Species of Reasoning, worthy of Consideration, perhaps it may engage my farther Attention; otherwise, I shall indulge a silent, contemptuous Indifference; quite impregnable to every As­sault of affected Wit or Ridicule; those very despicable Things, for which I acknowledge myself to have neither Taste nor Talents, especially in a Cause of so serious and important a Nature.

I chearfully accord with the Author's Wishes, that America may be restored to ‘the same Situation, in which it was, when our most gracious Sovereign ascended the Imperial Throne of his Royal Ancestors.’ It is, farther, my most ardent Prayer that all those unhapy Differences, which subsist between Great Britain and America may speedily sub­side and be buried in eternal Oblivion; that a perfect Recon­ciliation and inviolable Friendship may be established on the most permanent Foundations, and, that both Countries may enjoy the inexhaustible Sweets of constitutional Freedom and Liberty, till Time shall be no more.