YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY TO ' 'EDMUND BURKE, Efq; •MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR THE CITY1 OF' BRISTOL,-; AND AGENT FOR THE COLONY OF NEW YORK, &c- , IN ANSWER TO ;. HIS PRINTED SPEECH, SAID TO BE SPOKEN IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON THE TWENTY-SECOND OF MARCH, i77s. SE,COND EDITION, Corded. BY JOSIAH TICKER, D.D. ; . ; DEAN OF GLOCEST ER. GLOCESTER: PRINTED BY R. RAIKES; AND SOLD By 1*. CADELL, in ths STRAND; LONDON. M. DCC. LXXV. [PRICE ONE SHILLING:] — *a mm* £~a.rr* ADVERTISEMENT. #¦£ ^>r^w/ m/zW Juncture obliges the Author to pojlpone his Animadvcrfions on Mr. Locke'.? [.Theory of Government for fome Time longer. But the Public may be affured, that he has not dropped the Defign; and that he only poftpones it becaufe the prefent Subjecl feems to require a more immediate Attention. In the mean while, the Learned and Judicious will eafily perceive from feveral Parts of this Difcourfe, . and particularly from what he has advanced, Page n, that he "is fixed in his' Plan, and that he has feleEled thefe Po- fitions out of Mr. Locke'j- Book for his future Animadverfion, which are, the moft ine onfi ft ent with any, Form of Government, Republican or Monar chical, and therefore the moft dangerous to real Liberty. A z a T O EDMUND BURKE, Efq; MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR THE CITY OF BRISTOL, AND AGENT FOR THE COLONY OF NEW YORK, &c. S I R, jS ypu have been pleafed to beftow much Abufe and Scurrility on me in your public Speech of the 19th of Aprils 1774;— and alfo many Com mendations in private both before, and fincc that Publication ; — 1 fhall take no other Notice "^ of either, than juft to allure you, that lam nei- ; ther. elated by your Praifes, nor chagrined at your Cenfures ; and that I hold myfelf indiffe rent in fefpecY to both. My Bufinefs with you is «. LETTER is folely of a public Nature; and therefore, without farther Preface, I beg Leave to inform you, that I propofe to examine your laft Perform mance, entituled, TM- Speech of Edmvnd Burke, Efq-, March 22, 1775, with as much Freedom, as you do the Writings and. Opinions of other IV en -, but, I hope, with more Decency and good Manners. In this Speech you lay down certain Premifes refpefbing the Difputes between the Parent-State and her Colonies : And from them you infer a moft extraordinary Conclufion. My Province it fhall be to enquire,, whether this Conclufion is juftly and regularly made;— and whether a' quite different one ought not to have been ¦drawn from fuch Premifes. My only Difficulty is, to ftate your Meaning. with Accuracy and Precifion :— Not that you yourfelf are unable to expi'efs your own Thoughts with the utmoft Clearnefs, as well as Energy ; but you are unwilling. For you excel in the Art of ambiguous Expreffions, that is, in ' giv'ng one Senfe to your Readers, and of referv- ing another to yourfelf, If called upon to defend what you have faid;— you excel, I Dy, in this Art, perhaps the moft of any Man living. Sometimes you exprefs more than you mean ; and at other Times lefs ; but at all Times, you have one general End in View, viz. To amufe ( now Lord Chatham." For when he wrote fo them to defiftfrom the infamous and traiterous Pra&ices of fupplying the Enemy with Provifi ons and Military Stores during a War, under taken at their Requeft, and for their 'immediate Protection;— what Effect had this official au thoritative Letter on. their Conduct and. Beha viour ?; None at all. For they not only , continued, but increafed the Practice of, fup* plying the Enemy with every Means of pro tracting the Wat;— rgreatly to their own Profit, it muft be owned; — but to the lafting Detri ment of this Country, whofe Lands .and Re venues are mortgaged for Ages to come,. to wards defraying the Expence of this ruinous, confuming War. , Nay, fuch was the fierce Spi~ rit of Liberty prevailing in our Englijk Colonies on this trying Occafion, that the Provincial Go vernors dared not fo much as commence a. Pro fecution againft any of the numerous Offenders. And their Friends and Agents here at Home [You know beft, whether Mr. Burke ,was • -among the Number: Dr. Franklin certainly wasj_X fay, their Friends and Agents were fo far from being .afhamed of fuch .infamous and . traiterous Practices, that they openly vindicated them to EDMUND BURKE, :Es(*. 9 them un our public News-Papers, poUring forth the bittereft Reproaches on Adminiftration for attempting to reftrain thefe Northern Mer chants (fuch was the gentle Phrafe) in the Pur- fuit of their undoubted and unalienable Rights and Liberties. After this, there is certainly no Need of any further Confirmation of your Af- fertion, That the fierce Spirit of Liberty isftronger in the Englifh Colonies probably than in any other People upon Earth. Now, as fuch is the Fact, you give us at Page 21 a Summary of the feveral Caufes, which have produced it. " From thefe fix capital u Sotifces,— Of Defceht, of Form pfGovern- **> ment, of Religion in the Northern Provinces^ " of Manners in the Southern, of Education, lt of the Remotehefs of Situation from the firft u Mover of Government:— From all thefe u Caufes fco-dperating together] a fierce Spirit " of Liberty has grown up." I. And firft as to Defcent. " The People "of the Colonies (P. 16.) are the Defcen- " dents of Englifhmen. England, Sir, [addrefiing u yourfelf to the Speaker] is a Nation which " ftill, I hope* refpe&s, and formerly adored, her ' "Freedom. The Colonifts emigrated from " you, when this Part of your Character was «c moft predominant. And they took this * Biafs and Direction the Moment they parted H from your Hands. They are therefore nop - 9 " only; IO ' l: E T T IT RT « only devoted to Liberty, but to Liberty ac*. ' " cording to Englifh Ideas, and on %*# pfin_, " ciples :— It happened^you know, -Sir, that the " great Cornells for Freedom in this Country, " were from the earlieft Times, chiefly upon: « the Qiieftion of Taxing.-Xht Colonies drew "from you* as with their ¦ Lifc-BIbod* thefe « Ideas and. Principles. Their Love of Li- " berty, as with you, fixed and attached on this tlfpecific Point cf Taxing." Here, Sir, you tell fome Truth;, you dif-- guife fome; and you conceal more than you difguife. Our; firft Emigrants to NirtH- America were- moftly Enthufiafts of a particular Stamp. They ¦ were of that Set of Republicans, who believed, or pretended to believe, thai Dominion was-, founded m Grace. Hence they, conceived* that they had the beft Right in the. World both to -. tax, and to perfecute the Ungodly.. And they did; ¦ both, as foon as they got Power into their Hands, m the moft open and atrocious Manner.' The^ Annals of the fakers will tell you, that they perfected Friends even to the -Death.' . And in regard .to Taxation, if ypu will be. fo hardy:as to afiert, that they taxed none, but fuch as were reprefented in their.Provincial Afiembly, I will undertake to prove the contrary :— I will under take to prove, that they, themfelves paid m, Regard, , in a Variety of Inftances, to that very Ppint;,.. to EDMUND BURKE,' Esq. »," IPoint, pn which they infift fo much at' prefent •in their Difputes with us, the Right of Repre sentation, and Of not being taxed without their -own Confent. In Ptaccfs of Time,, the Notion, that Domi nion was founded in Grace, grew out of Fafhion. But the Colpnifts cqntinued to be Republicans :ftil|, only Republicans of another Completion. They are now Mr. Locke's Difciples ; who has laid down fuch Maxims in his Treatife on Go- •vernment, that if they were to be executed ac- cprding to the Letter, and in the Manner the Americans pretend to underftand them, they would neceffarily unhinge, and deftroy every Government upon Earth. I fhall at prefent only mention the four following. i. "That Men are by Nature all free, "equal, and independent; and no Man can be ™ put out of this Efttfe, without his own Confent r Book 2, Chap. %. 2. " That Governments have rto Power over " the Son, becaufe of that which they have " pver the Father." Chap. 8. 3- " That fubrnitting ,to the Laws of any " Country, living quietly, and enjoying Privi- « Jeges and Protection under them, makes not ." a Member of that- Society ;-becaufe nothing pan make any Man fo, but his atlually enterhl f Mo it by positive Engagement." Chap. 8. P2 4- "That •¦TIC ¦U LETTER 4. " That the Supreme Power cannot take «« from any Man any Part of his Property [that " is, cannot Tax him] without his own Con- "sent." Chap, if;- •- .' Now, Sir, if thefe crude, undigefted Notions are to be underftood abfolutely, and without Correction or Limitation ;-~ and if fuch are the true, original Ideas of Englifh conftkutionai Liberty,--! will frankly acknowledge, that Great-Britain hath not fo much as the Shadow . of a Right to tax the Colonies :— Nay, I will go farther, and fcruple not to deci^N, that fhe has no Right to make any Regulation whatever re- fpecting them, without their own exprefs Con fent and full Approbation firft obtained. But, after 'having made this Conceffiori, 1 hope you will be fo candid on your Part, as to acknow ledge, that no Government upon Earth did ever yet fubfift on fuch a Plan of wild, Utopian Li berty. And I do prefume, that Ido not afk fob much in making thisRequeft; feeing that your celebrated ' American Fellow Labourer* " Diy Priestly, has already gone a good deal farther. - For he has already informed the World, iri his EfTay on Civil Government, that as all Go vernments whatever have been in fome Meafure compulfory, tyrannical, and oppreffive^ri' their Prigin, therefore they ought to be changed, *pd new-modelled as foon as ever the People 1 '¦ '" '¦ [who, to EDMUND BURKE, Eso^ 13 [who, N. B. according to him and Mr. Locke, have always an unalienable and indefeafible Ripht to change and alter, what, and whenever theypleafe] fhall feel themfelves ftrong enough to throw off this Ufurpation, and can bring about a glorious Revolution. Nay, another great-' Man, and Difciple of Mr. Locke, no lefs than the patriotic Jean Jaques Rousseau (I think in his Letters from the Mountains) fuggefts an happy Expedient for accomplifhing this defira ble Work of perpetual Alterations. He pro- pofes, that once a Year, at leaft, the People Should aflferhble together for the exprefs Purpofe of confulting and debating, whether they fhould permit the" fame Form of Government, or the fame Officers to continue for one Tear longer; >or change them all, and begin another Form, or try another Set. The People, you know, ac cording to this republican Doctrine, are, in all Inftances, the fupreme Head, and Lord Para mount : And Government, even the beft of Go vernments, ought implicitly to fubmit to their Authority and Controul. Therefore, whether the fame Form of Government, or the fame Ad- miniftrators of it, fhall be, or not ber--that's the Queftionl The Americans 01 late have afbed very agree ably to this fhifting Scene of new Lords and new Law's ; for not only their general Con? greffes,' and their Provincial Congreffes, but their S4 BETTER. their Town-Meetings, their felect Meetings, and their Liberty-Tree Meetings, have a Natural Tendency to beget a popular, republican Spirit, and tp fubject every O'egree Of Magiftracy and Government to the perpetual Controul and Ca price ofthe Mob. In fhott, it is already an efta blifhed Maxim in that Country, that the Voice cf the People,— is the Voice of God. And were any one to dare to gainfay it, Tarring and Feathering would be the mildeft Punifhment, which fuch a Rebel againft this [Mob-cratic] Conftitution could expect. And you, Sir, when you were enumerating them any fignal Advantages we derive from our Connections with America, ought to have menti oned this among the reft.:— You ought to have exulted, that the fierce American Spirit begins to operate fo very rapidly here in England-, and and to have expreffed your Hopes that it will fpread more and more, the longer we are con- netted with that People. But perhaps you had your Reaforis agajnff; being thus explicit.— It is a tender Point ; and you have a very difficult Part to act.' Certain it is, that both the American, and the Englifli Republicans expect great Things from you: They expect, that you would affift them in re- . educing the Power of the Crown, and of the Houfe of Peers to a mere Cypher ;— or rather to abolifh them totally, Root and Branch : Anel thejr to EDMUND BURKE, Esq. xi they expect likewife, that you would co-operate with them in fubjecting the Houfe of Commons itfelf to the Inftructions of Town-Meetings, fe lect Meetings, Liberty-Meetings, &c. &fc. &c. : And in fhort, that every Thing fhould be fub- jugated both within Doors, and wjthout, arbi- trio populdris aura. On the other Handv it is equally certain, that you are endeavouring to make Ufe of thefe factious Republicans, as the Tools and Inftru ments of your own Advance ment, without gratifying them in their darling Object. ' This is a curious Farce, in which. each Party, muft act at prefent under borrowed Characters; (for even the Republicans muft, as. yet,, exprefs their Wifhes more by dumb Shew, than by open Declarations) and in which one, or other rhuft be duped, atJaft Bot more of this hereafter. II. The fecond Scource you mention, from Whence the fierce Spirit of the Americans, is de rived,, is their Forms of Government ftrorigly tending to. become Republics. And here, as you had nolntereft either to conceal, ortodif- guife the Fad, you have given Us a juft Repre- fefttation of it. u Their {the American} Go- « vernments (Page 17) are popular in an high' " Degree. Some are merely popular ; in all the "popular Reprefentative is (.he1 moft weighty : 41 Arid this Share of the People in their ordinary. « Government never fails to infpire them with " loftyr *6 LETT e'r « lofty Sentiments," and with a ftrong AverfiV " from whatever tends to deprive them of their ' " chief Importance." But you infinuat?,' that .you will not decide whether this Indulgence to the' Colonies at firft' in granting them fuchpopular [alias republican] Forms of Government, arofe from Lenity or Lndolence, from Wifdom, ot Miftake. Alas'' Sir, one can eafily perceive by your very Infl ation and your Caution, that you had already decided this Point in your own Mind, tho' you did not chufe to fpeak out.. And indeed it is ' now evident to all, that if the Parent-State really - intended to retain an actual and effectual Sucre' nwcjr over her Colonies, (which was certainly her Intenuon) fuch Forms of Government were or all others the moft unfit for that Purpofe-'- and the moft likely to beget a Spirit of Lie-' ¦ Pfnfence, and .Reve*. In fact, what was fo lively to nave happened, has actually come to Sral 1 £ ^^ C°me f° Pafs in ^ na tural and neceffary Courfe of Things, tho' the ^-P, ortheTeaaas had never be^ though of. And agree with you, that it is now bv .much too late to think of correcting an Error foftrenethenedbvTimp *nA %. ¦ ' h,r o v,- y ' and Shown inveterate tct iL r ^T' 3S We are aSreed in ^ *aa, l^every one draw his own .Inference. i III. Youit to EDMUND BURKE, Eso^ '17 III. Your third grand Caufe is Religion: On which Subject you deliver yourfelf in the \ following Strain, at Pages 17 and 18. " If any Thing were wanting to this neceffary " Operation ofthe Form of Government [to be- " get or infufe afierceSpirit of Liberty] Religion " would have given it a complete Effect. Reli- ". gion, always a Principle of Energy, in this new " People, is no Waysworn out or impaired. And " their Mode of profeffing it, is alfo one main " Caufe of this free Spirit. The People are Pro- " teftants ; and of that Kind, which is the moft " adverfe to all implicit Submiffion of Mind and " Opinion. This is a Perfuafion not only fa- « vourable to Liberty, but built upon it.— The " Diffenting Interefts have fprung up in direct' " Oppofition to all the ordinary Powers of the "World; and could juftify that Oppofition "only on a ftrong Claim to natural Liberty. "Their very Exiftence depended on the power- ' « ful and unremitted Aflertion of that Claim. " All Proteftantifm, even the moft cold and " paffive, is a Sort of Diffent. But the Religion " moft prevalent in the Northern Colonies is a " Refinement on the Principle of Refiftance ; " it is the Diffidence of Diffent : And the Pro- "teftantifm of the Proteftant Religion. This ""Religion, under a Variety of Denominations, " agreeing in nothing, but in the Communica- " tion of the Spirit of Liberty^, is predominant C « in i* LETTER " in moft of the Northern Colonies. The Gor* " lonifts left England when, this Spirit was high,, «' and in the Emigrants the higheft of all." Sir, this Account is not exact, andftands in Need of fome Correction. When the Emigrants., fied from England, they were univerfally Cal- vinifts of the moft inflexible Sort. But they were very far from being of that Species of Pro tectants, whom you defcribe-, and of which fpreading.Sect, there are but too many Profelites. both in Great Britain, Ireland, and America ; I mean,, the modern new-light Men, who proteft againft every Thing, and who would diffent even from themfelves, and from their own Opi nions, if no other Means of Diffention could be found out. Such Proteftams as thefe are very literally Protesters; but it is hard to fay,, what they are befides. And Fact it is, that they have no Manner of Affinity with the Calvinifts of old reflecting Church Government. For tho1 the Calviniftical Emigrants were prpfeffed Enemies to the Popery of the Church of Rome, and to the Arminianifm of the Church of Eng land, yet were they no Enemies to religious Eftablifhments. Nay, their great Aim was, to eftablifti the folemn League and Covenant, as the only Syftem which ought to be admitted into a Chriftian State. Nor would they have fuffered any other religious Perfuafion to have exifted, if ihey could have prevented it. Moreover, tho' they ,to EDMUND BURKE, Esq/ i$ they were for pulling down proud and lordly Prelacy ';: yet were they moft indefatigable in erecting Claffes, and Synods, and • Elderlhips," in the genuine Spirit of High-Church, Prefby- terian' Hierarchy, and armed with the Terrors and Powers of an Inquifition. In fhort, their Aim was 'to eftablifti a republican Form of Go vernment built Pn republican Principles both Iri Church and State. But, like all other Re publicans ancient and modern, they were ex tremely avei-fe from granting any Portion of that Liberty to Others, which they claimed to themfelves as their unalienable Birth-Right. " The prefent Diffenters in North-America re tain very little of the peculiar Tenets of their. Fore- fathers, excepting their Antipathy to our eftablifhed Religion, and their" Zeal to pull down all Orders in Church and State, if found to be fuperior to their own. And if it be this you "mean, by faying, that the diffenting Inter- eft's [in America] have fprung up in direct Op pofition to all the ordinary Powers of the World ; — and that the Religion, moft prevalent in the- Northern Colonies is a Refinement on the Prin cipi es of Refiftanc e ; . the Diffidence of Diffent*. arid the Proteftantifm of the Protectant Reli* gion : - In fhort, 'if you afcribe the. fierce Spi rit now 'raging in the Northern Colonies to thefe Caufes, 1 make no Objection to your Account -Of the Matter; provided you will allow that C 2 the so LETTER, the Religion of the Gofpel is a very different. Thing from theirs. But neverthelefs I muft beg the impartial World to judge, between us, as to the Conclufion to be drawn from fuch Premifes, ; and whether it be, or be not, a defireable Thing to continue a Connection with a People who are actuated by Principles fo very repugnant, to our own Conftitution both in Church and State, and fo diametrically oppofite to the Spirit of the Gofpel. IV. To the before-mentioned Sources, from! whence this Ungovernable Spirit is derived, you add another, viz, The Domination of the Ma-. Iters over their Slaves in the Southern Colonies. For it feems, he that is a Tyrant over his Inferi ors is, of Courfe, a Patriot, and a Leveller in re7 fpeft to his Superiors. And lam afraid, there is but too much Truth in this Observation. , How ever, let us confider the Drift and Tendency of your own' Expreffions.-^" Iri. Virginia, and the *l Cdfolinds, fhey have vaft Multitudes of Slaves. ''Where that is the. Cafe,, in any ^P art of the "¦World, thofe who are freeware by'far the mbft "proud and jealous of their Freedom.' Free-^. " dom is to therri. riot only an'Enjoyment, but a V Kind of Rarik.arid Privilege.— I do not rinean "to cOmmerid the fuperior Morality of this" *': Sentiriient, which has at leaft as much Pride, ic as Virtue iri it: The Fact is fo; and thefe^ ^People ofthe Southern Colonies.; are 'much, " more - to EDMUND BURKEj Esq_ 2t - "more ftrongly, and with an higher and more ?*.ftubborn Spirit, attached to. Liberty than.thofp " of the Northward. Such were all the antient f Common-wealths; fuch were our Gothic An* "ceftors ; fuch in our Days were the Poles; and " fuch will be all Mafters of Slaves, who are " not Slaves themfelves..: . In fuch a People the " Haughtinefs of Domination combines with the "Spirit of Freedom, .fortifies it,; and renders kk "invincible." P. 18, and 19. , .Here, Sir, you trace out , many important Matters for our due Regard and . Attention.. , And firft of ajj, you fuggeft, tliat the Southern Colonies, who have fuch Multitudes of Slaves, and who, ,in Confequence thereof, are by far the weakeft, ftanding in Need of odr daily Protection, are neverthelefs the moft obftinately bent againft contributing, any Thing towards their own Defence. Why ? Becaufe they are by far the moft proud and jealous of their Liberty ; for in them the , Hiiughtinefs o^. Domination combines with the Spirit of Freedom : And therefore as they, will not condefcend to contri bute any Thing towards their own Defence, we, who are not fo proud and jealous, muft v fubmit to be their. Guards and Centinels. And then perhaps, they may make us fome Acknow- , Iedgments, or they may not ;~^ according, as it • fhall pleafe their High Mightineffes ! Grand and, noble on their Part, it muft be owned ! Humiliating zs LET; T""E''R:— ' Humiliating and mean on ours ! Surely, "Sir, one 'would have thought, that a very different Inference might have, been' dfawn frorri fuch Premifes:— One might have fuppofed, that it would not have been "altogether- ririreafonable, orunjuft to fay, that if Men of filch Principles will not contribute their fair1 Quota' towards their own Prefervatioh ; let them take ttfc-Con.- ' fequence; and let us give ourfelves no further Concern about them. ¦' ' But it feems, the antient Republics, and our •Gothic Anceftors," the' modern 'Poles, "'arid afl Mafters of Slaves^ who are 'not "Slaves them felves, were, and are, in every Part of the "World, pofteffed with the HaUghtinefscf Domi nation refpectirig others, and with an invincible Spirit of Freedom regarding themfelves.' Pro bable enough: The fierce Spirit of the Goths and Vandals was a Spirit of FreedonT for them felves to do whatever they lifted, at the Expence ' of the Lives? Liberties,' arid Properties of the Teft of'Mankind : The modern Poles, profecuted juft the fame Plan over (heir Dependents; 'till a Tyrant arofe of more extenfive Power, arid of ¦greater Capacity, ,who has lately ferved fome of them in the fame Manner, in which theyferve all their Vaffals. As to the Inftitution of Slavery •in any of our Colonies ; let thofe be Advocates for it, who approve of it. For my Part, I am thoroughly convinced j that the Laws of Com- ¦*' ' merce, to EDMUND BURKE, Esc^. 25 merce,, when rightly underftood, do perfectly 'co-jncide with the Laws Pf Morality; both ori ginating from :the fame' gbod- Being, whofe Mercies are over all his Works. Nay, I think it is demonstrable, that domeftic or predial Sla very would be found, on a fair Calculation, to be. the' moft ''onerous and expenfive Mode of cultivating Land, and of railing Produce, that could be'devifed. And I defy you, with all your Learning and Acutenefs, to produce a fin gle Inftance from Hiftory either antient or mo dern, of a Country being well cultivated, and at the fame Time abounding in Manufactures where this Species of Slavery (Imean the do meftic or predial) is preferred to the Method of hiring free Perfons, and paying them wages. In the mean Time, I do moft readily fubfcribe to the Doctrine implied in your Defcription, viz." That the Mafters of fuch Slaves, are, for the moft Part, haughty, infolent, and imperious; in private Life ;. and alfo, that they are turbu lent and factious in refpect to the Public, in- ceffantly endeavouring to, pull down and lay low, even with the Duft, every Order and De gree of Men above themfelves. Jura , negant% fibi n#ta. ,..;..,_ „ ... - With refpect to the ancient Republics (and you might have added (the: modern, likewife) the fame Remark holds good.;,, The Haughti* nefs pf Domination, generally fpeaking, renders thefe 24" L E T T E R thefe republican Governments the moft infolent and tyrannical upon Earth. And it is obferv- able, that their Subjects retain lefs of Liberty, both in Form and Subftance; than moft of the Subjects even of monarchical Governments. Now, that this is the Fact, I appeal to all Men of Reading, to all who have travelled, and to all who can make a juft Obfervation on Meq and Things. Nay, to go no farther than our own Country, the Specimen we had of the manifold. Tyrannies, and grievous Opprefiions (without even the Colour of Law) of thofe Upstarts, who called themfelves, fhe Common-Wealth of England, after the Murder of King Charles I. I fay, this Specimen is fuch, that no Man, either wife, or good, would wifh to have the like Tragedies acted over again ;— notwithstand ing the high Encomiums, which fome celebrated republican Writers of late have paffed on thofe Times. In fhort, Sir, very unfortunate haveyou been hitherto in heaping together fuch a Number of Arguments, and fuch Examples as thefe: All of which militate fo very ftrongry againft your own Conclufion. And yet what is to follow* will be found to dp. fo much more ftrongly. V. For 5th. You fay (Page 19) " Permit « me, Sir, to add another Circumftance in our ^* Cploniesj which cenjribures-no mean Part to- • ''"''- "l ¦•. "' :.' ' : t" wards ce Ucc(C cc « Z94^26 ll 3 The Amount of the Value ofthe hx- ports (taken from the fame Books) and for the fame Length of Time, from Eng- land to the prefent revolted Provinces of. .America, was only 20,061,023 3 3 According to this Account it appears, . that Holland and Germany were bet ter Cuftomers to England than the revolted Provinces of North-Ame rica, during thefe nine Years, by ' the Sum of -— IO'z33.i03 7 -7 ^Before a Comparifon was drawn between the Trade to North- America, and the Trade to other Countries, •where *voe have no Colonies, the general Cry of the Mal-contents ¦Was, Let us appeal to the Cuftom-Houfe Books, and there ¦you* will find, that the Trade to our Colonies is worth all other Trades befides. This was the Language which Dr. Franklin held, in my Hearing, about twenty Years ago. But, as I never believed -him in any public matter, except- ' , ing in his Eletlrical Experiments, I was refolved to fee with rny own Eyes, whether what he advanced was true or not; having a ftrong fufpicion that he fibbed defignedly, like Sir Henry Wotton's EmbaJTador, patrice caufa. Thp Extraft which I then obtained, is now miflaid. But I re member perfectly well, that the Balance was at that Time V much greater in Favour oi Germany and HoUand, even than it iis, at prefent, as given above. Nay, I think that the Exports 28 ''LETTER Years laft paft, than almoft every other Export- Trade befides. This is a Fact, which I am well perfuaded, could have been no Secret to Mr. Burke •, yet, as he has ftudioufly concealed it from his Hearers, or his Readers, I will, in Juf tice to them, endeavour to explain it in the beft Manner I am able. x to Holland alone were then equal, pr pearly equal, to the Value of aU the Exports to North- America. And if is rea sonable to fuppofe, that at that JuMlure, the Cafe was not far diftant from this State of it ; for then we had not altoge ther fpent 70,000,0001. Sterling in Defence of thatCountry j which Circumftance, as' it greatly enriched the Americans, enabled them proportion ably to extend their Trade, and to purchafe much greater Quantities of Goods than they had done before. And we "had. hot. then drained our'felves of Men as weil as Money,' to fight their Battles, and to 'fettle among them, to their Gain, but to Jut irreparable Lofs :— '- Nor laftly, had the Emigrations f bm the different Parts of Europe, and efpecially from Germany, Ireland, and Scotland, then taken Place to the Degree' they have fince done; all which Circumftances confpire'to fwell the prefent Account in Favour of America, much beyond its due Size and real Value, and to leffen both the Confumption at Home, and .our Exports toother Countries.','.'.- For it is evident' to a Demonftrarion, that if bur old Cuftomers will remove from Germany, Ireland, Scotland, &c. 'or from among ourfelvesj to fettle in' North- America ; — they cannot be European, and American Cuftomers at the fame Time :" So that what we get in One Refped, we muft lofe in the other. ¦¦ And yet; with all thefe Advantages, and taking the American Trade at its moft flourifhing Period, viz. from the Year 1763 to the Year 1772, as above Hated; — what is it to make.fuch a mighty boaft of? And why is our Commerce with othei Countries fo much vilified and degraded, if broughtinto r Comparifon with the Trade of North-America ? — But l throw out thefe Reflections only as Hints at prefent, and referve to myfdf a more full Confideration ofthe Matter in the Trcatife that is to follow, viz. An Addrefs ta the ' Landed Inthfeji of Great-Britain and Ireland. The to EDMUND BURKE,' Eso^ 29' The People of other Countries, Holland, Ger many, France, or Spain, &c. &c. are, generally fpeaking, afraid of giving Orders for a greater Quantity of Goods, than they can fee a Profpect of paying for. Not fo in North America. For if you will give them Credit, they will give you Orders to what Amount you pleafe. [I fpeak this in general, for undoubtedly there are nu merous Exceptions.] And then, when the Time of Payment approaches, they are the very Peo ple you have defcribed, dextrous, prompt in At tack, ready in Defence, and full of Resources: Some of which Refources, as practifed between forty and fifty Years ago, I will lay before the Reader. First,' after they had run fo far in Debt, that they' could be no longer trufted ;— they required that the Englifh Creditor fhould make his Ap pearance in their Courts of Law, or before fome of their Magiftrates, in order to prove his Debt. Now it is: eafy to fee, that in many Cafes, it would be better for the Englifh Merchant to compound his Debt at any Rate, or even to tally to relinquifh it, than to profecute the Re covery of it after this Mariner. Then, fecondly, they, infifted, that their Lands, Houfes, and Slaves were riot liable to the Payment of Com mercial or Book Debts, becaufe they were not Affets;— though thefe Poffeffions were purchaf. fed, or procured by that Very Credit, and thofe - very 3» L- E T T E T* very Capitals, which they had obtained from England. The Merchants of Great-Britain, find ing themfelves thus fhamefully cheated of their Property, petitioned the Parliament for a JRe- drefs of Grievances ; arid obtained an Act the 5thof G. II. C. 7. Anno 1732, entituled, "An *< Act for the more eafy Recovery of Debts in " his Majefty's Plantations and Colonies in " America." In which Act there are fpecial Claufes inferted for defeating both thefe Schemes of your ingenious Friends, the Americans. How ever, a People fo full of Refources, as you have •defcribed them to be, foon recovered themfelves from this Overthrow : For in a very few Years, ¦they contrived another fuccefsful Mode of cheating their Englifh Credito/s: And the four New England Provinces, now in actual Rebellion, were particularly concerned in this Confpiracy. The Trick was, to iffue out a Paper Currency, and to oblige the Englifh Creditor to. accept of it as a legal Tender, in full Difcharge of all De mands. The Englifliman, who, in Great-Britain, is not obliged by Law to accept even of a Bank-r Note, as a Tender of Payment, -was fhocked -and alarmed to the laft Degree, at this repeated Attack upon his Property : And therefore ap plied again to the Legislature for Affiftance and Protection. Nor did he apply in vain : For in the Year 1751, viz. 24th of G. II. C. 53, an Act was paffed, entituled* ^ An Act to regulate ;" .and « « to EDMUND BURKE, Esq.- : 3p and reftrain Paper Bills of Credit in his Ma- 'jetty's Colonies and Plantations of. Rhode- " Ifland and Providence Plantations, Connefticu? " and Maffachufets Bay, and New Hampfhire in, " America-, and [N. B.] to prevent the fame be- " ing legal Tenders in Payment of Money." Now, Sir, you fee even here,, and: without mentioningthofe numerous Inftances of a grow ing Difpofition to rebel, which occafioned the- famous declaratory Law of 7th and «th of Wil- liamM.C. 22. about 80 Years ago;— and with out, referring to the Archives of the Board of Trade, whofe Preffes are loaded .with Englifk. Complaints and Memorials againft American In - juftice and Chicane, againft their Violation ofT our Trade- Laws, and other bad Practices ;— I fay, without referring to any of thefe, and con fining ourfelves fimply and folely to the Aftsof Parliament _ here mentioned, it appears evident to a Demonftration, that the prefent Difputes, with the Colonies derive their , Origin from Caufes much more ancient and remote, than ei ther theStamp, or the Tea Act., And it is re ally, aftonifhing, that you fhould have the Cou rage even.to infinuate the contrary .;— much lefs, to affert it, fo peremptorily, as you do at . P. 34. and in the Face of fuch ftubborn Facts.: But alas ! All Things, are now inverted. For that very Boldnefs, which nothing but a Con- .fcioufnefs of Truth,, the Mens confcia reffi, ought to J* J- x. to infpire, is become the Privilege of the moft bare-faced Falfhoods. But to return ; after botfi thefe Acts of Par liament (obtained, not during the prefent, but during the late Reign;) one would have thought, that an effectual Stop had been put to American Chicaning, arid American Subterfuges. Alas, Sif, no fuch Thing. Your Friends and Fellow-Labourers are ever dextrous, ever readj in Defence, and full of Refources. The Tricks laft in Vogue as I am credibly informed (I mean, before ever the Stamp-Act was thought of) were to procraftifiate a Law-Suit to an immo derate Length; which it feems, this People, foaddified to the Study of the Law, have1 difeover ed the Art of doing, at a very fmall Expence ' on their Part ; and then, when they could' ward off the Blow no longer, and when the Lands, Houfes, and Effects muft be fold, in Gonfequence of the afore-mentioned Act, — the: laft Refource was, to get a Friend to buy the' Eftate back again at the Public Vendue ; in which Cafe thefe good Men and true were fure of favouring one another agairift the common Ene my. In fhort, it frequently came to pafs, that the Englifh Creditor, at the Foot of the Ac* count, found himfelf fo loaded with Expences and Items of various Kinds, that it was well for him, if the Sale of , the Premifes would defray the Charges, without taking into the Account jus" to EDMUND BURKE, Esq. 33 his original Debt, his Lofs of Intereft, expected Profit on his Capital, Lofs of Time, &c &c. Nay, it has been fometimes known, that the Sheriff himfelf has abfeonded with thePurchafe Money. Hence, Sir, and from a Variety of fuch Caufes, it has actually come to pafs, that fo many Merchants of London, Briftol, Liverpool, &c. &c. have failed, and become Bankrupts, if they traded chiefly and principally to North- America ; —And that fo very few have acquired any confiderable Fortunes by this Trade, not- withftanding the great Riches which have been acquired by almoft all others. But here, to ufe your own Words, the Smart- fiefs of Debate will retort upon me: — Granting the Cafe to be as you have listed it, " What do " you propofe to do with thefe Americans ? "'.Your own Scheme of a total Separation from " them, reeomrrlends neverthelefs the tradine " with them, as with any other independent, " neutral Powers. And then, if* they fhould 41 have Recourfe to their former Tricks and "Chicaneries, the fame Complaints will be " made by the Englifli Merchants, and the fame " Difficulties, or perhaps greater, might again " perplex the' Britifh Crown and Parliament." To which Objection I return the following An fwer :— That if the North- American Provinces were erected into independent States, their Sub- E jects ¦34" LETTER jects would be afraid to "infult us with fuch/ fhocking Provocations, as they have done with' Impunity for many Years paft. No neutral Power dares -to attempt the like againft Great- Britain. And in Cafe the Americans fhould' ever betray a Difpofition to return to their for mer Practices, a few Letters of Marque Ships ientupon their' Coaft, would foon teach thefe Smatterers in the Law, to-be honeft in Spite of their Teeth. Nay, the Americans themfelves have not, as far as appears, practifed thefe infa mous Cheats on any European Nation, except ing the Englifli. For tho' they have, for at leaft thefe laft "fifty Years, carried on an increafing Trade with Holland and Germany, with France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy > either by "Means of the Dutch, French, Spanifh, or Portuguefe Colo nies, or by a more direct Communication ;— yet they have, for the moft Part, paid ready. Money wherever the Balance was againft them: And then they traded with the good-natured credulous Englifli on long Credit; which induced them, when the Times of Payment drew on, to be guilty of the infamous Practices before de fcribed. So much for their private Character refpect- • ing their commercial Intercourfe with their Fel low-Subjects. — We will now confider the fame- People in another View,— in the Treat ment they fhew to that very Legiflature, which they 1 to EDMUND BUR*KE, ?£sq. 35 :they themfel,ves do in Words and in Tongue ac knowledge to be fupreme. General Gage, you fay, declares in one of .'his Letters, that [as all the People in his Go vernment " are either Lawyers, or Smatterers " in. Law] they have in Bofton been enabled by " Succefsful Chicane, wholly to evade many- " Parts of one of our capital .penal Conftituti- ' " ons." Moft probably this penal Statute was one of our Laws for the Regulation of their " Trade, and for confining it to the Mother Coun try; which Syftem of Laws you well know (tho* ' you will not own it) has ever been their Aim either to undermine, or over-turn. And, Sir, ?if you will be pleafed to attend to the very Terms made Ufe of, both by the Provincial, : and General Congreffes, in their refpective Re- folves, you will find, that thefe zealous Protec tants, who are, in your Opinion, the very Quint- effence of Proteftantifm, are neverthelefs as great Adepts in the Science of Equivocation, and mental Refervation, as the moft fubtile Jefuit; you will find, that when they feemed to ap proach the neareft to a Compromife, they really .intended to be as far diftant from it as ever; and • only ufed foothing and ambiguous Expreffions in order to deceive the Unwary. — That this is the Fact, you may learn at once from that re markable Expreffion in all their Congrefs Re- ffolves, every Idea of Taxation. Now what ¦A3. every Idea ? What are its Limits and Boun- E -z daries ? 36 L E *T T E R daries? And who can fix the Meaning of fo" vague a Term ? According to the Explanations . which the American News-Papers, and their po litical Writers, have already given of this Phrafe of doubtful Signification, it appears, that they intend to object under Cover of it, to every Re- ftriCtion you can form for confining their Trade ' to the Mother-Country; feeing that the Sanc tions or Penalties, by which fuch Regulations muft b" enforced, may be confidered as com ing under the Idea of Taxation. '" For, fay " they, every Englifh 'Taw, which either dimi- ¦" nifties our Property, or deprives ius of the " Means of acquiring it, is in Fact, a Tax laid ** on the Inhabitants, of America for the Benefit " of England.'" < And under this Head, they haye already claffed that Act of Parliament, which required the Billeting the TrooPs 'n tne'r re~ fpedtive. Provinces. ... -- ,,• But left, Sir, you fhould defpife what I have here. fuggefted, .{what you often .magifterially affect, to do,) give me Leave; to refer you to a Prophet of their own, who delivers his Oracles on this Plead. "If, fays he, the Britifh Parlia-- " ment has a legal Authority to order,, that we " fhall furnifh, a fingle Article for the Troops " here [in America,] #.nd to compel.Obedience to " that Order-,, they have the fame Right to order, , " us to fupply thofe Troops wjth Arms, Cloaths, " and every Neceffary, and to compel Obedi- " enceto that Order: In fhort, to jay any Burdens « they to EDMUNDBURKE, E&c^, y] " they pleafe upon us: What is this but taxing "us at a certain Sum, and leaving to us only " the Manner of raifing it ? How is this more " tolerable than the Stamp-Act ? Would that " Act have appeared more pleafing to Ameri- •l cans, if being ordered thereby to raife the Sum, "total ofthe Taxes, the mighty Privilege had " been left to them of faying, how much fhould " be paid for an Inftrument ia Writing on Pa* u per, and how much for another on Parch- " ment. An act of Parliament com- " manding us to do a certain thing, if "it has any Validity, is a Tax upon us " for the Expence that accrues in coty- " plying with it." [Letter ift of the Letters from a Farmer in America, printed at Philadel- • phia.; London re-printed for Almon, P. 8.] And now, Sir, if it be poffible to fuppofe, •that any Thing further can be wanting to prove the Expediency; and even Neceffity of feparat- jng fpeedily from fuch a People, and fo circum- ftanced ;r-,-you yourfelf have furnifhed us with one grand Argument ftill more cogent than all the reft, under your next and concluding Head. Strong indeed, and. very e'mphaticai are your. Words on this Occafion ! •' VI. " The laft Caufe of this disobedient " Spirit in the Colonies is hardly lefs powerful '.than the reft, as.it h not merely moral, but. « laid deep in , the . natural 'Conftitution of 1 Thmgs. Three Thoufand Miles ,rcf Ocean lie '-'>.. . ,.-¦ ¦<•? ¦-,"¦ ' r " between 38; LETT E- R ": between you and them. No contrivance can ' " prevent the Effect of this Diftance in Weak- - •¦**' ening Government.;' Seas roll, and Months "pafs, between the Order and the Execution :; «* And the Want of a fpecdy Explanation of a • "".'fingle: Point, is enough to defeat a whole ¦ ;" Syftem. You have indeed winged Minifters ". of Vengeance, who carry their Bolts in their * " Pounces to the remoteft Verge of the Sea. *« But there a Power, fteps In, that limits the " Arrogance of the. raging Paffions and furious " Elements, and fays, fo far fhalt thou go, and "no farther. Who are you that fhould fret '" and rage, and bite the Chains of Nature ?-— *'• Nothing . worfe happens to you, than does to all *l Nations who have extenfive Empires : And it *' happens in all the Forms to which Empire can,. luftration- 40 , LETTER luftration pf the direct contrary. Spain, Sir, as you well know, was, before it was feized with an epidemic Madnefs of fettling Colonies in America, one of the richeft, the beft peopled, the beft cultivated, and the moft flourifhing Country in Europe. It was faid to have con tained at leaft twenty Millions of Inhabitants ; Its Cities were numerous and opulent, abound ing with Manufactures of various Kinds, and particularly with thofe of Silk and Wool. But now alas ! how fallen ! what is Spain ! where are its Manufactures 1 where its Inhabi tants ! The laft Enumeration of its Inhabitants was, I think, in the Year 1766: And the Numbers then given in were between fix and feven Mil lions of Perfons of an Age fufficiently adult to receive the Sacrament at Eafter. The Queftion therefore between you and me is reduced to a few fingle Points, fimple in themfelves, and eafy to be underftood, viz. 1 ft. Whether Spain, with its prefent Number of Inhabitants (or if you pleafe, with double its prefent Number) and alfo with vaft and extenfive Colonies in South- America, is richer and ftronger than it was, with its Twenty Millions formerly, and without any Colonies at ali? And 2dly. What prudential Courfe ought Spain to take in its prefent Situa tion,— Whether to call off as many Ameri- tan Subjects as it can, and then entirely to abandon to EDMUND BURKE,- Escs 41 abandon all thofe immenfe and'diftant Regions, which it cannot govern, turning its Cares wholely -to the re-peopling, and improving of Old Spain ? Or whether to go on ftill in its prefent Mode, trucking and huckftering, and getting fuch an Obe dience as it can [which you fay is the Cafe even with the Grand Turk] watching Times, govern ing and fubmitting by Turns, and complying with this American Spirit as with a neceffary Evil? Now, Sir, as thefe are the Queftions to be decided; let the impartial World judge be tween, and determine for us. And after that De- cifion, let an Application be made, mutato nomine, to Great-Britain and her Colonies. Two Words more about Spain, and I have done. The firft is, that before the Difeovery of America, there were upwards of 30,000 Hogfheads of Sugar raifed in the Kingdom of Granada ; and all raifed by free People, with out domeftic, or predial Slavery. Whereas at prefent there are hardly any. Why ? Becaufe Spain has now Sugar Colonies in America ; and the making of Sugar in Granada would interfere , with their Interefts. We have, I think, made 1 no lefs than fix Ads of Parliament here in Eug» land, on a fimilar Plan, to. prevent the Cultiva tion of Tobacco, in order to favour the Colony of Virginia. The fecond is, that the only Province in all' Spain, which feems to begin to lift up its Head, and to get a little forward in Population, Agri- ¥. culture, 42 LETTER culture, and Manufactures, is the province of .Catalonia. And the Reafon is, becaufe Catalonia is happily by its Situation the fartheft removed from the baleful Influence of Colony-Connecti- ' 6ns, and fuffers the leaft by Emigrations. And now, Sir, as ifvthe fix Caufes, which you had already produced, were not enough to overthrow your whole Syftem, you are fo kind, in the Sequel, as to prefent me with two more, which prove very ftrong Arguments againft yourfelf. The firft is the growing Po pulation of the Colonies, which you fay [P. 24] is evidently one Caufe of their Refiiftance. And therefore in whatever Ratio this Population is to be fuppofed to increafe, in the fame muft their Refiftance increafe with it, and our Au thority decreafe. The othet Caufe of Refiftance is, the prodigious Expanfion of the Back-Settle ments. " Many of the People in the Back- « Settlements are already little attached to par- «« ticular Situations. Already have they topped " the Apalaihian Mountains. From thence they " behold before them an immenfe Plain, one « vaft, rich, level Meadow, a Square of Five " Hundred Miles. Over this they would wan- *< der, without a Poffibility of Reftraint. [And furely, Sir, if it is impoffible for us to teftrain them, -undoubtedly they-w/'ff wander whenever they chufe fo to do.] " They would foon change ' ** their Manners with the Habits of their Life 1 '! WOUld to EDMUND BURKE, ESQi 4% ¦« would foon forget a Government by which " they were difowned : Would become Hords lt of Englifh Tartars ;. and pouring down upon " your unfortified Frontiers a fierce and irre- " fiftible Cavalry, become Mafters of your Go- •' vernors, and Counfellors, your Collectors and " Comptrollers, and of all the Slaves that ad- ¦" hered to them.". [Page 24.] Thanks to you, Sir, for thefe kind, and pro phetic Declarations ! The Defcription alone is fufficient ; without flaying to put the Matter to an actual Trial. And if after this, we will per- fevere in retaining Governors and Counfellors, .Collectors and Comptrollers in fuch a Country, on any Account, or under any Modification ..iwhatever, we deferve to fuffer all that you have predicted. For indeed, whether the Colony was placed in Afiatic, or American Tartary, the Folly and Abfurdity of pretending to govern fuch a Colony, and to make it fubfervient to the Purpofes of Commerce, is juft the fame. Nature oppofes .it, as ypu juftly obferve: And Nature will be obeyed. But.I forget: — You have a Scheme -of your -own to propofe : A Scheme, which will remove all Difficulties, be they ever fo great ; an infal lible Scheme, which can unite the moft diftant .Situations, reconcile the moft jarring Interefls, ,the moftoppofite Principles, and difcordantTem- jpers ; — A Scheme in fhort, which, as you fay on ^another Occafion, will annihilate both Space and Time, 44 ' LETTER' Time, and make two. Lovers happy.—" The Pro* " pofition is Peace. [Page 5.J Not Peace " thro' the Medium of War; not Peace to be " hunted thro' the Labyrinths of intricate and / " endlefs Negotiations:,; not Peace to arife out " of univerfal Difcord, fomented from Princi- «' pie, in all Parts of the Empire ; not Peace to " depend «n the juridical Determination of " perplexing Queftions: or the precife marking *' the fhadowy Boundaries of a complex Go- «• vernment. It is fimple Peace; fought in its *< natural Courfe, and its ordinary Haunts. — It '«* is Peace fought in the Spirit of Peace, and laid *' in Principles purely pacific." What a pompous Defcription is here ! Mulier formofafuperne, Definit in pif certi?* — - For after all, what is this Heavemborn paci fic Scheme,-of which we have heard fo laboured an Encomium ? Why. truly* ; if we will grant the * See the thirteen Propositions printed at the End of. Mr. Burke's Speech, Pages 63, 64, and 65. The Sum total of which may be thus exprefled, bear and forbear. '• Bear with, and fubmit to the Colonies in every Thing, " while they continue to acknowledge the fajne Head of. «« the Empire, the fame King with ourfelves : — But forbear *' to compel them, diredlly or indirealy, to make any "Provifion either for the general Defence of the Empire, «« or for the particular Ufes of their King, . towards whom « they profefTsd fuch Loyalty.-.-if they are. not vojunta- " . J * . ¦¦ . > • . ¦ U n]y to EDMUND BURKE, Esq;. 45 the Colonies all that they. fhall require, and ftipulate for nothing in Return-, then they will be at Peace with us... I believe- it;, and on thefe fimple Principles of fimple Peace- making I will en gage to terminate every Difference throughout the World: I fay, throughout the World ? For even your own Diffidents oi American Diffenters, whom you have defcribed as the moft difficult of all Men- living, to be pleafed, cannot, I fhould think, afk for more, than to have their Demands always granted, whenever they make them. It is, Sir, a Thing worthy of Obfervation in your Writings, that whenever you are advancing fome ftrange Paradox, which will not bear a Difcuffion J" nly difpofed to make thefe Grants." Mr. Burke may not approve of this Comment on his Doftiine, becaufe it develops his Meaning a little too plainly, and mal-aprotos. But I appeal to the World,- Whether his Scheme of Paci fication canbe underftood, I mean praBieally underftood. in any other Senfe? I„ thefe thirteen Proportions every Demand-of the Colonies is complied with in Effia, tho' TJCc"'?^ A"d rhh ComP'«n^ °r Conceffion is to be confidered, not as fome temporary Indulgence or Matter of Favour to be refumed at Pjjfure • fbut as a Matter of Right and- as the Terms c#ffe foTemn League and. Covenant, which the two Britifh Nations of Europe, and Anuria are to enter into, and as a craKD Social Compact to rcmam inviolable for ever. Therefore the "Si^f10" H WhatriS,Srantedi °r ^ be grant d! to 1? m " h3Ve the fole Pow^r ei her Pf granting, or of refufinfc to grant, any-Money even for their 46 . I, E T T .E R Difcuffion in open Day, there you attempt either to envelope yourfelf in fuch a Cloud of Metaphors, as may prevent your Readers from "feeing what you are about ;-Uor elfe to draw up your Paragraphs with fuch Guards and Salvoes, that while, you prefent one Senfe to your Rea ders, you referve another for yourfelf in Cafe of Attack. ,Of the former of thefe t have given fome blaring Inftances already ; and fhall now exhibit fome Specimens of the latter. At Page 52, you fay, " I do not know, « that the Colonies have, in any general Way, " or in any cool Hour, gone much beyond the ** Demand of Immunity in relation to Taxes. " It is not fair to judge of the Tempers and « Difpofitions of any Man, or of any Set of their own eftablifhments. Now, if they fhould refufe to wake thefe neceffary Grants, as they have frequently done, what Courfe is to be taken with them ? Are we to compel them to make Provifion for their own Services ? No, by no Means: For this is contrary to the exprefs Words ol the intended Treaty. Are we then to abandon them, and give them up, telling them, that we will not be troubled fny longer with fuch unreafonable People? Nor that For, provided they lhall continue to acknowledge the fame King, the fame general Head of the Empire whom te acknowledge.' thefwill have fulfilled all thai -Eng« J- ments-— And Great-Britain mult do the reft. Therefore Se Words of the Orator, at Page 58, are both juft and em- t>hatical:— " Mine [my Plan! is gratuitous, and u«- ?« cond.tiona,, and not hefd out as a Matter of Bargain «< and Sale." Indignant Reader, make thy own Reflec tions 1 Had we been abfolutely conquered by the Arms of America, what other Terms of Slavery could have been xm- fcofeduponus? „ jyjeJ? to EDMUND BURKE, Esc^ 4^ «« Men, when they are compofed, and at reft, *' from, their Conduct or their Expreffions, in a " State of Difturbance and Irritation." Now a plain, honeft Man, not aware of your mental Refervations, would think, that you had exprefsly told him, that before the Colonies were provoked by the Stamp- Act, they were ali Love and Duty to the Mother-Country ; and that 'till this fatal Period, they had never manifefted any Difobedience to her Authority, or fhewn the leaft Reluctance to comply with her Demands : But as you know the contrary, you were un willing to rifque the Merits of your Caufe on this Iffue : And have cautioufly added, that the Colonies have not in any general Way, in their cool Hours gone much beyond, &c. &c. There fore fhould I undertake to prove that the Co lonies, as far back as the Year 1 696, manifefted a ftrong Difpofition to fet up Laws, Bye -laws, Ufages and Cuftoms in Oppofition to the Na vigation-Ad, and other Acts of the like Ten dency, (where Taxation was out of the Quefti- on)— your Reply is ready: " The Colonies " might be then in a State of Difturbance and " Irritation: And I had only affirmed, that they " did not break out into Acts of Difobedience- " in their 'cool Hours:" Or if I could prove, (which I think I can) that in the Year 1696, there was no Appearance of Difturbance or *!™^lon 15 *h? S?l?nics, but that all was peace able; .48 LETTER able, — you then can have Recourfe to your ci ther Diftin&ion, viz. " That their Reluctance " to comply with particular Acts of Parliament; „ «' which they efteemed to be peculiarly oppref- 41 five, was very confiftent with their Conduct " as good Subjects in general." In fhort, by the Help of thele Diftinctions and mental Referva- tions every Inftance of their Difaffection and D'ifobedience to, and 111- treatment of, their Pa rent State may be accounted for, palliated and .gloffed over : And n. thing will remain for us at Home, but to take Shame to ourfelves for hav ing brought fuch a frivolous Accufation. Their tempting General Brapock. to fet forward on a March, and then refufing to fupply him with . neceffary Provifions at the Places appointed, un-< lefs he would advance the Price, which had beeri ' agreed upon, to a moft enormous Height;— * and after all deceiving him [would to God, that we had taken Warning by this Treachery, and left them, and the Indians to have fought their own Battles ;] their aiding and abetting, our declared Enemies, the French and Spaniards, during a War undertaken for their Sakes ; — their refufing to pay their juft Debts to their Englifh Creditors, while they were trafficking with other Nations for ready Money; with numberlefs other Artifices and Chicaneries, which are daily practifed by thefe Smatterers in the Law, all, all are to be veiled over by thefe dif- to EDMUND BURKE, Esq. ¦ 45 difingenuous Sophiftries, and pitiful Evafions. But what is ftill more extraordinary, their very Grants of Money, of which you make your Boaft with peculiar Exultation; I mean their' own Grants made in their own Affemblies, and for the particular Ufa and Defences ef their own Provinces during the laft War, are a fur ther Uluftration of this Matter. Sir, by your Manner of expreffing yourfelf on this Head P. 1 6 you have endeavoured to make the good , People of England believe, that the Americans f have been the moft liberal People upon Earth of "' '• their Grants of Money; provided there was a Reqmfit.on made to them in due Form and Manner and that there was a juft and fufficient Reafon alledged for making fuch a Requifition. How furpnzed therefore will they be to hearfo different an Account given of this Matter bv the moft unexceptionable of all Witnefies, even by .themfelves! The Authority I fhall quote at. prefent, as being the moft recent, and likely to be contradicted, had it been falfe, is the Speech of Governor Franklin made to the Affembly ofNewJerfey, May 16, 1775: « The Necef- " fity of fome fupreme Judge [whether, and " when each Province contributes its juft Quota " for the general. Service] is evident from the " very Nature of the Cafe; as otherwife fome " Colonies might not contribute their due Pro- ." portion. During the' laft War, I well re- .*_' member, it was ardently wifhed by fome ofthe G £ Colonies, 5o LETTER «' Colonies, that others, who were thought to" *< be delinquent, might be compelled by Acl of «' Parliament to bear an equal Share of the pub- " lie Burdens. It appears by .the Minutes of "Affembly, in March and April 1758, that « fome of the neighbouring Colonies, thought « New Jerfey had not at that Tiriie contributed « its due Share towards the Expences of the « War; and that Prefident Reading (the then « Commander in Chief of the Colony) was of « the fame Opinion. • And fince my • Admini^- " ftration, when the Affembly in 1764 -was « called upon to make Provifioh for- raifing " fome Troops on Account of the Indian War, " they declined doing it for fome Time, but on « Condition a : Majority of the Eaftern Colo- «' nies, as -far as to include- Maffachufets-Bay «' fhould come into his Majefty's Requifition. oii " the Occafion.- But [N. .B.j as. none: of the " Affemblies of the New-England Governments " thought themfelves nearly concerned, « nothing " was granted by them: And xht.whole Burden of *« the Expedition then carried on, fell upon Great « Britain and three or four, of the middle Co- m lonies, with which this Colony was difatisfied, " and the Affembly complained of it in one of « their Addreffes to me on the Occafion." Now, Sir, in- this Extraft from Governor Franklin's Speech, you fee, that both Fad and Argument direftl/ confute your fine-fpun • ¦" aerial to EDMUND BURKE, Esq^ $r aerial Theory of a voluntary Revenue, for the general Support even of the American Part of the Empire ;— without hinting a Word about the European Interefts of Great- Britain. For, here, all their Governments were left to their own free Choice, without the Shadow of a Com- pulfipn. Here the Parliament did not inter fere at all : Nor did the King interfere in any other Mode, than by Requifition ; and that too for their own Sakes, and for the Sake of their Sifter-Colonies. Yet, what was the Confe- fequence ?--Why, all the Governments through out the Continent, excepting three or four of the middle ones, granted, — " the voluntary " Flow of heaped-up Plenty, [Page 59] burft- " ing from the Weight of its own rich Luxu- " riance, ever running in a moft copious Stream " of Revenue ;" — that is to fay, they granted, just nothing at all : And poor England, with what tiny Affiftance it could draw from thefe three or four middle Colonies, was forced to hear all the Burden, as is ufually her hard Fate. Nay more, the Reafon given, why the New- England Governments refufed to contribute any Share in Aid of their Sifter- Colonies, is a Circumftance, which, I hope, rio Inhabitant of Great-Britain or Ireland will pafs over, without due Attention, and without making a Self-Ap plication to his own Caufe and Country, viz. Thefe New-England Governments did not think G 2 them* 5« LETTER themfelves fo nearly interefted in the Come"-- quences of an Indian War, as the other, middle Colonies were. --.__. Jnglia quid rides ? Mutato nomine de te Fabula narratur. Therefore, my European Fellow-Subjects,- if Great-Britain or Ireland fhould at any Time have a European * Quarrel on their Hands, you know already, what Affiftance you are to expect from the Fellow-Feelings of your benevolent Fellow-Subjects in America. However, had we been deftitute of Governor Franklin's Teftimony of the Refufal of the Colonies to contribute any Thing" towards the Relief of others, where their own lnterefts are not immediately concerned ; we might have been fupplied, even out of your own Stores, with very ftrong and cogent Reafons againft depending on fuch voluntary Grants from our dutiful Sons of North-America. For you, Sir, according to your ufual Flow of heaped-up Plenty, burfting from ihe Weight of your own rich Luxuriance, ever run ning in a moft copious Stream ;-— you, Sir, in plain Englifh, are continually furnifhing me with Plenty of Arguments- againft yourfelf. * The Inftances, which Mr. Burks has brought at Pagff 46, to prove that the Colonies, or rather that a few out of the many Colonies, have been liberal in their Grants to Great-Britain, during the Continuance of a privateerings fmuggling, trucking, and huckjlering American Sea-War, in which they were lure to be the greateft Gainers; fnall be particularly confidered in an enfuing Treatife, An Addrefs to tlie landed Intereft of Gmt-Britain and Ireland, You to EDMUND BURKE, Eso^ 53 'You have, for Example, taken uncommon Pains toexpofeand confute the Syftem of Lord North for obtaining an American Revenue, bf obliging each Province to furnifh its Contin- — gent ; which you very humoroufly defcribe by the Idea of fetting up a State- Auction in the Anti-Chamber ofthe Premier. And 1 do freely acknowledge, that the Objections . you have ftarted againft this Mode of Taxation, feem to me unanfwerable. [Though, I truft, you will have more Generofity, than to tell the Prime Minifter, that this is my Opinion ; leaft he fhould deny me a Biftioprick, which you fay I am aim ing at ; and which certainly is not likely to be obtained by this Manner of Proceeding.]. But ' alas ! while you were fo eager in demolifhing the minifterial Citadel for compelling an Ameri can Taxation, — you forgot, that by the very fame Means, you were undermining your own Edifice for a gratuitous Revenue. For ift.— It plainly appears, that even your own Plan for obtaining a gratuitous Revenue, from fuch a People as you have defcribed, cannot fucceed, in Faff, without both an Auction- Room, and an Auctioneering-Hammer. Indeed you yourfelf are fo confeious ofthe Truth of this Obfervation, that, at Page 59, you do not fcru- ple to reprefent the Matter in a Point of View ftill more difhonourable and bafe, by borrow ing the Idea of a Set of Gamblers crouding round a gaming Table. ^ The Parties are the " Game- 51-,- '¦-,, LET T.E R , . " Gamefters;;>but Government keeps the Ta- «,ble and is fure ,to win at laft." Now, which; of thefe two delicate Similes, the Auction -Room, or the gaming Table, vou choofe to prefer, in order to do Honour to'^your American Friends and Patrons, is .a Matter of Indifference, to me, But one Thing is certain, that if any Revenue, in any Shape, oi on any Terms,, is to be obtained from fuch' honourable. Affembfies, as you have here defcribed ; thofe who harangue, and lead, and govern in each Affembly muft be bought off:— Ox as you elegantly phrafe it, on a fimilar Occafion,. « They muft be won by great Honours and. « great Emoluments [all at the Expence of Old « England) to the Service ofthe State ;; otherr « wife they will prove very formidable AdverfV « ries to Government : They will grow ftub- " born and litigious ; become prompt in At* « tack, ready in Defence, and full of Refources." And therefore it muft undoubtedly follow, that the more free and unreftrained thefe patriotic, earning, or auftioneering Demagogues fhall become, the more they will pride themfelves on their own Importance, and the higher will be the Price, which they will demand for their Ser* ¦vices to Great- Britain, But, idly.— You bring another Objedion againft Lord North's Scheme at P. 55, which militates much more ftrongly againft your own. Your Words are, " Suppbfe the Colonies « were to lay the Duties which furniflied that ¦ * Con* to EDMUND BURKE, Esc^ £j» *« Contingent, upon the Importation of your Ma- *' nufactures; you know you would never fuf- *' fer fuch a Tax to be laid. You know too " that you would not fuffer many other Modes " of Taxation." Now, if inftead ofthe Word Contingent, which is Lord North's, we infert Free-Gift, which is yours ; I afk any Man of plain, common Senfe, whether the Objection is hot at leaft equally ftrong againft your Plan, as againft his ?— In Fact it is much ftronger. For as there would not be that legal and conftitutional Call for making voluntary Prefents, as for fur- nifhing neceffary Contingents ; the Confequence would be, that both the Provincial Reprefen- tatives, and their Conftituents would naturally fay, if the rich Englifh Nation will expect Pre fents from us poor Americans, we muft raife them by laying Taxes on their own Manufac tures ;— And then, whatever fuch Impofts may amount to, they will in the Event promote the Induftry and Manufactures of our own Coun try :— I fay, this is the natural Language, which moft Men would hold on fuch an Occafion, and more efpecially Americans. But you, Sir, I own, have a very different Idea of Men, and Things. You fay at Page 60, "My Hold ofthe «' Colonies is in the clofe Affection, which " grows from common Names, from kindred !" Blood, from fimilar Privileges, and equal Pro- *< tedtion. Thefe are Ties, which, though light *f as, Air, arc as ftrong as Links of Iron." '; Alas! 5 furd in the very Suppofitioni that a People fo addicted to Chicane, as you have painted thefe Americans to be; and who moft undoubtedly have devifed many difingenuous Artifices a- aainft paying their juft Debts to their Englifh Creditors;— fhould all on a fudden, by the mere Magic of your enchanting Metaphors, be fo changed and altered, as not only to become very honeft, very exact, and punctual in their Dealings; but alfo very liberal, generous, and munificent. And here again, I willingly fub- mit to be ranked in the Number of thpfe poor, ignorant Beings, whom you condefcend to men tion at Page 61. "All this I know well '«« enough, will found wild and chimerical to the « profane Herd of thofe vulgar and mecha- «« nical Politicians, who have no Place among « us [inthe Houfe of Commons;] a Sort of « People, who think that nothing exifts but " what to EDMUND BURKEJ Esq. 57 -*• what is grofs and material; and who, there- •< fore,'far from being qualified to be Directors "of the great Movement of Empire, are not "*• fit to turn a Wheel in the Machine." ^ -Nbw,: Mr. Director of the great Movement of Empire ! Will you permit (and it is the only Boon I afk) an obfeure Perfon, whofe Province it is to turn only one of the inferior Wheels ~ I fay, will you permit me to appear in your Pre fence, whilft you are perfonating a great Minifter of State in this new-intended patriotic Admini ftration ? " O Diva, gratum-qute regis Antium, ' Ptefens vel into tollere gradu Mortale corpus, velfuperbos Verterefuneribus triumfbos ! The firft Act of your Directorfhip wiU un doubtedly be 1 '* Super bos Verterefuneribus triumpbos ! That is, to turn out the prefent Set of Mini- fterial Blunderers, that profane Herd of vulgar and mechanical Politicians, who fancy, that Offi cers are neceffary to collect, a Revenue, and Laws to enforce the Payment ;— then to repeal every penal Statute for compelling the good People of England to pay Taxes againft their ewn Confent;— to difcharge, of Courfe, thofe grofs atld material Beings, called Cuftom-Houfc H Officers, 5* L E T, T -E :R.j .••,• Officers, Excife-Men, &c. &c. &c..and:tOitruft' entirely to the copious Revenue which fhall ' arife from the voluntary, Flow of- heapfd-up' ' Plenty, burfling from the Weight of-, its, own rich* Luxuriance, free Gifts and voluntary. Do nations. Methinks, Sir, I fee you aftirigyour.) grand minifterial Part, with great Dignity and : Propriety in this new and bufy Scene> .Methinks l I fee vaft Crouds around you, all preffing for-; wards, all joyfully pouring forth xhtir [free-will << Offerings for the Service of ,vthe State; in the ? exuberant Plenty of rich Luxuriance. And -I; fob, : who never was at a minifterial Levee but three Times in my Life, and that about twenty-Years ago,--I alfo wifh moft ardently to. attend on fuch an Occafion., And that I may not come empty-handed, for we fhall all be Givejr J,. and no Receivers, I will humbly beg Leave to bripg ,k this Pamphlet with me, and to lay it at your Feet, in Token of that Duty,- Gratitude^ and Refpect, with which I have the HonouY to be, , :.C Great and worthy Sir ! .-, i ;•.., .,;>,•-,{ Tour moft devoted, ¦and"'1-' ' -.',-', c l i il Moft obedient humble Servant,' ,;, (. JOSIAH TUCKER: , Lately publiflied by the, fame Author, ""';' TRACTS, Political and Commercial. it. A Solution of the important ^uefllon, whether a poor v. x ¦*" Country, where raw Materials and Provifions are cheap, and Wages low, can fupplant the Trade of a rich manufacluring Country, where raw Materials and Pro vifions are dear, and tbe Price of Labour high. 2. The Cafe of going to War for tbe Sake pf Trade con fidered in anew Light. '' 3. A Letter from a Merchant in London to hii Ne phew in America, concerning the late and prefent Diflur- banccs in the Colonies.' 4. The true Intereft of Grcst-Brit&in fet forth in regard to the Colonies; and tbe only Means of living in Peace and ¦Harmony with them. 5. The refpeaive Pleas and Arguments of the Mother Country and of the Colonics diftinelly fet forth ; and the Im- poffibility of a Compromife of Differences, or a mutual Coneeffwn of Rights plainly demonfirated; with a prefatory Epifile to the Plenipotentiaries of the Congrefs. Printed forRiyiNCTON, Cadei, and Walter. TRACTS Polemical and Theological. 1. An Apology for the Church of England, as by Law eflablified, occafioned by a Petition to Parliament for abo- hjlnng Subfcriptions. r- 2. Two Letters to the Rev. Dr. Kippis ; Letter ift. Concerning the Extent of the Claim ofthe Church of Eng land to regulate the external Behaviour of her own Mem bers; and alfo to influence their interridl Judgments in Contr overflies of Faith: Letter 2d. IVherein the 9ueflion is dij cuffed, whether the Englifli Reformers in the Reign s/Edward VI. intended to eflablifh theDotlrines ofPre- deftmation, Redemption, Grace, Juftification, and Per- feverance ,n the Calviniflical Scnfe, as the Dotlrines of tbe Church of England. J . }• RiUp°™ Intolerance na Part of the General Plan either ofthe Mofaic or Chriftian Difpenfation. 4. A brief and difpajfionate View of the Difficulties re- fleBivcly attending the Trinitarian, Arian, and Socinian iiy/tcms. n, 1 o To be publiflied by the Meeting of the Parliament, An humble Addrefs, and earnefi Appeal to thofi refpeil- «ble Perfonages in Great-Britain and Ireland, whp, by their great and permanent Intereft in Landed Property, their liberal Education, elevated Rank, and enlarged Views; are the dbleft to judge, arid the fittefl to decide, whether a Connexion with, or a Separation from, the Northern Co lonies he moft for the national Advantage^ dnd the lafting Benefit of thje Kingdoms. To be publiflied in the Courfe of the enfuing Winter. . A Volume tffelttl Sermons on intir efting and important ~$ukjcflf, . All by the fame Author.