or other free inhabitants thereof, commonly called the General Assembly, or General Court; with powers legally to raise, levy, and assess, according to the several usage of such Colonies, duties and taxes towards defraying all sorts of public services."

5

This competence in the Colony Assemblies is certain. It is proved by the whole tenor of their Acts of Supply in all the Assemblies, in which the constant style of granting is, "an aid to his Majesty;" and Acts granting to the Crown have regularly for near a century passed 10 the public offices without dispute. Those who have been pleased paradoxically to deny this right, holding that none but the British Parliament can grant to the Crown, are wished to look to what is done, not only in the Colonies, but in Ireland, in one uniform unbroken tenor 15 every session. Sir, I am surprised that this doctrine should come from some of the law servants of the Crown. I say that if the Crown could be responsible, His Majesty but certainly the Ministers, and even these law officers themselves through whose hands the 20 Acts passed, biennially in Ireland, or annually in the Colonies — are in an habitual course of committing impeachable offences. What habitual offenders have been all Presidents of the Council, all Secretaries of State, all First Lords of Trade, all Attorneys and all Solicitors- 25 General! However, they are safe, as no one impeaches them; and there is no ground of charge against them except in their own unfounded theories.

The fifth resolution is also a resolution of fact —

"That the said General Assemblies, General Courts, or other 30 bodies legally qualified as aforesaid, have at sundry times freely granted several large subsidies and public aids for his Majesty's service, according to their abilities, when required thereto by letter from one of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State; and that their right to grant the same, 35 and their cheerfulness and sufficiency in the said grants, have been at sundry times acknowledged by Parliament."

To say nothing of their great expenses in the Indian wars, and not to take their exertion in foreign ones so high as the supplies in the year 1695-not to go back to their public contributions in the year 1710 — I shall 5 begin to travel only where the journals give me light, resolving to deal in nothing but fact, authenticated by Parliamentary record, and to build myself wholly on that solid basis.

On the 4th of April, 1748, a Committee of this House 10 came to the following resolution:

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"Resolved: That it is the opinion of this Committee that it is just and reasonable that the several Provinces and Colonies of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, be reimbursed the expenses they have been at in taking and securing to the Crown of Great Britain the Island of Cape Breton and its dependencies."

The expenses were immense for such Colonies. They were above £200,000 sterling; money first raised and advanced on their public credit.

On the 28th of January, 1756, a message from the King came to us, to this effect:

"His Majesty, being sensible of the zeal and vigor with which his faithful subjects of certain Colonies in North America have exerted themselves in defence of his Majesty's just rights and possessions, recommends it to this House to take the same into their consideration, and to enable his Majesty to give them such assistance as may be a proper reward and encouragement."

On the 3d of February, 1756, the House came to a 30 suitable Resolution, expressed in words nearly the same as those of the message, but with the further addition, that the money then voted was as an encouragement to the Colonies to exert themselves with vigor. It will not be necessary to go through all the testimonies which

xxix. — Jan. 22d and 26th, 1762; March 14th and 1763.

Sir, here is the repeated acknowledgment of Pa ment that the Colonies not only gave, but gave to sati This nation has formally acknowledged two things: t that the Colonies had gone beyond their abilities, Pa ment having thought it necessary to reimburse th secondly, that they had acted legally and laudabl their grants of money, and their maintenance of tro since the compensation is expressly given as reward encouragement. Reward is not bestowed for acts are unlawful; and encouragement is not held ou things that deserve reprehension. My Resolution th fore does nothing more than collect into one proposi what is scattered through your Journals. I give nothing but your own; and you cannot refuse in gross what you have so often acknowledged in de The admission of this, which will be so honorabl them and to you, will, indeed, be mortal to all the erable stories by which the passions of the misgu people have been engaged in an unhappy system. people heard, indeed, from the beginning of these putes, one thing continually dinned in their ears, reason and justice demanded that the Americans, paid no taxes, should be compelled to contribute. 1 did that fact of their paying nothing stand when taxing system began? When Mr. Grenville begat form his system of American revenue, he stated in

House that the Colonies were then in debt two millions six hundred thousand pounds sterling money, and was of opinion they would discharge that debt in four years. On this state, those untaxed people were actually 5 subject to the payment of taxes to the amount of six hundred and fifty thousand a year. In fact, however, Mr. Grenville was mistaken. The funds given for sinking the debt did not prove quite so ample as both the Colonies and he expected. The calculation was too sanguine; 10 the reduction was not completed till some years after, and at different times in different Colonies. However, the taxes after the war continued too great to bear any addition, with prudence or propriety; and when the burthens imposed in consequence of former requisitions 15 were discharged, our tone became too high to resort again to requisition. No Colony, since that time, ever has had any requisition whatsoever made to it.

We see the sense of the Crown, and the sense of Parliament, on the productive nature of a revenue by grant. 20 Now search the same Journals for the produce of the revenue by imposition. Where is it? Let us know the volume and the page. What is the gross, what is the net produce? To what service is it applied? How have you appropriated its surplus? What! Can none of 25 the many skilful index-makers that we are now employing find any trace of it? — Well, let them and that rest together. But are the Journals, which say nothing of the revenue, as silent on the discontent? Oh no! a child may find it. It is the melancholy burthen and 30 blot of every page.

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I think, then, I am, from those Journals, justified in the sixth and last Resolution, which is

"That it hath been found by experience that the manner of granting the said supplies and aids, by the said General Assemblies, hath been more agreeable to the said Colonies,

you took on yourselves the task of imposing Colony ta from the want of another legal body that is compet to the purpose of supplying the exigencies of the st without wounding the prejudices of the people. Neit is it true that the body so qualified, and having t competence, had neglected the duty.

The question now, on all this accumulated matter, whether you will choose to abide by a profitable exp ence, or a mischievous theory; whether you choose build on imagination, or fact; whether you prefer enj ment, or hope; satisfaction in your subjects, or disc

tent?

If these propositions are accepted, everything wh has been made to enforce a contrary system must, I t it for granted, fall along with it. On that ground, I h drawn the following Resolution, which, when it comes be moved, will naturally be divided in a proper mann "That it may be proper to repeal an Act made in the seve year of the reign of his present Majesty, entitled, An for granting certain duties in the British Colonies and P tations in America; for allowing a drawback of the du of customs upon the exportation from this Kingdom coffee and cocoa-nuts of the produce of the said Colonie Plantations; for discontinuing the drawbacks payable china earthenware exported to America; and for m effectually preventing the clandestine running of good: the said Colonies and Plantations. And that it may proper to repeal an Act made in the fourteenth year of reign of his present Majesty, entitled, An Act to dis